Former Tribeca Film Institute head Beth Janson, who returned to Canada to lead the organizer of the country’s film and TV awards in 2016, has been named as the chief operating officer for the Toronto Film Festival.
Janson, CEO of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, will join TIFF on May 20, as she reports to CEO Cameron Bailey. And the Toronto festival has also hired Anita Lee away from the National Film Board of Canada to become its new chief programming officer.
As COO, Janson will oversee development of operational plans and initiatives to ensure TIFF’s long-term success, the festival said on Thursday. From 2009 to 2014, she was executive director of the Tribeca Film Institute, and before that the programming director of the Newport International Film Festival.
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Janson arrives at TIFF after managing director and co-head Joana Vicente left Toronto to replace Keri Putnam as CEO of the Sundance Institute, the media and arts nonprofit that hosts the Sundance Film Festival. Her arrival also precedes TIFF’s pandemic-era recovery continuing as it plans to return for its 47th edition in September 2022 to an in-person event, with Hollywood stars on red carpets and film lovers in theaters.
Since 2014, Lee served as the executive producer for the National Film Board of Canada’s Ontario studio. In her new role, Lee will oversee TIFF’s programming and industry teams.
“Beth and Anita are two of Canada’s most accomplished, impressive film executives. Their ideas, leadership and passion for the transformative power of film will fill key roles for the organization and add to an already outstanding TIFF teams,” Bailey said in a statement.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, which organizes the annual Canadian Screen Awards, said it has named current vp of programming & awards Louis Calabro as interim CEO of the organization as the search for a successor to Janson gets underway.
