LITTLE ROCK — The board that oversees the annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival is searching for a new executive director after laying off the former director along with three other employees because the nonprofit group was $30,000 in debt.
“There’s no question we’re going to have a great film festival - the 20th film festival,” said Dennis Simpson, a board member of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute. “The issue is, we were just overstaffed for the events we were having.”
The institute, which runs the festival as well as other events, has refinanced the historic Malco Theater and adjacent parking lot so it can repay all the money it owes, fellow board member Teddy Reynolds said Thursday.
“The institute’s equity is strong, and the institute is stable,” Reynolds reassured. “From this day forward, there is no deficit spending.”
Simpson said the board laid off Executive Director Malinda Herr-Chambliss, an assistant film director, the person in charge of social media, and a full-time bookkeeper in March after realizing the institute was “consistently running a deficit that the board felt was not sustainable.”
“It was a financial imperative, no question,” he said,explaining that not as many people are needed when the festival isn’t in full gear.
Some of those employees are working for the institute now on an “as-needed,” contract basis, Reynolds said.
Simpson said Herr-Chambliss had the best interest of the institute at heart but that she did not comply with the board’s request to curb spending on events to reduce the debt.
However, he said she was laid off, not fired. Simpson and Reynolds also praised Herr-Chambliss, saying they appreciated what she did as a “dedicated” executive director.
“Malinda really had the institute at best in her heart and in her mind,” Reynolds said. “She tended to sometimes overspend in her zeal. It’s not something we fault her on. It’s just something we couldn’t support.”
A message left at Herr-Chambliss’ gallery and with a friend were not returned Thursday.
Festival Director Dan Anderson is now serving in that role and as acting executive director until a new person can be hired. Anderson did not return a telephone message seeking comment Thursday.
Simpson said the festival, which is held each October, has a record number of entries scheduled for this year.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 05/13/2011