Brenda Robinson Named Acting President of Film Independent as Eric d’Arbeloff Becomes Acting Board Chair (EXCLUSIVE)

By Katcy Stephan, Gregg Goldstein

According To The variety Following the passing of its longtime president Josh Welsh on Dec. 31, Film Independent has established interim leadership changes as it begins a search for a new executive to lead the organization.

Brenda Robinson has been named acting president of Film Independent, while board vice chair Eric d’Arbeloff will fill her role as acting board chair. The changes were voted on at a board meeting on Wednesday, and are effective immediately.

“Hopefully this will provide us with some sense of stable direction as we continue mapping out the future,” Robinson tells Variety. “Eric and I have a wonderful working partnership as it is, and so it felt very natural for us to move into the roles together. We had overwhelming support from the board on that.”

Robinson, a “recovering entertainment attorney,” as she puts it, first became involved with the organization 12 years ago, starting out as a member in the Arts Circle community. She joined FIND’s board in 2020, becoming vice chair in 2021 and board chair in 2022.

Roadside Attractions co-president and owner D’Arbeloff, who has worked with FIND for over 20 years, will chair the search for a permanent president.

This is an opportunity for us to consider ways that we can evolve both the organization and the leadership at the helm. We’re in a different world, and obviously Film Independent is evolving into the next version of itself,” Robinson says of the search, citing her hope to grow membership from its current 8,000 members to over 10,000 within the next five years, with an aim to double its membership in the futureWe’re recognizing more and more that we are not a local organization. It’s not that we ever saw ourselves that way, but we know that there are growth opportunities both nationally and internationally,” she adds, mentioning cities like New York, Chicago and Miami as key markets where FIND could increase its presenceOnce a new president is found, Robinson and d’Arbeloff will return to their previous board positions. When asked if she might consider taking on her new appointment permanently sometime in the future, Robinson said, “I’d like to settle into this temporary position, and review with the board what the best steps are with Film Independent down the line.”

“What’s always drawn me to Film Independent is this whole idea of access for people who don’t really have access to an insider look at the industry,” d’Arbeloff says. “Josh has put us on such great footing, and really segued so beautifully during the pandemic from an all in-person organization to a virtual-optional organization that can be accessed worldwide.”

Much like Robinson, his paramount goal is to increase FIND’s reach. “I want to keep growing the membership, because I think that sets us apart from every other film related group: for a relatively nominal fee, you can have access to all these programs and you can become a voting member of a major award show,” he says. “I want to keep doing that, and I want to keep celebrating all these different filmmakers from all sorts of diverse cultural backgrounds.”