New Executive Director For Sag Harbor Cinema

SAG HARBOR, NY — The newly reborn Sag Harbor Cinema has its first executive director.

Springs resident Gillian Gordon was appointed by the search committee and the Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center board; working with Jobplex, a DHR International company; the board unanimously approved Gordon as director after conducting a search of multiple qualified candidates.

The Sag Harbor Cinema has literally risen from the ashes and been reborn devastating fire ravaged the village in 2016— even the iconic neon sign from the movie theater was saved.

An award winning producer and educator, Gordon has been working in the United States, United Kingdom and Asia for the past 28 years as an executive and producer, the Sag Harbor Cinema said in a release.

Gordon has been involved in film from every angle: teaching, film production — she is the former COO of Harmony Pictures in Los Angeles — fundraising, as a trustee and co-chair of Filmaid UK and as executive director of the charity, Youth Culture TV, to her involvement in BAFTA, working as a film festival judge, mentoring young filmmakers and as film consultant to Singapore Media Development Authority. She brings a track record of producing successful TV drama for the BBC and ITV as well working for film and general productions, and Carlton TV, the release said.

"As a teacher and innovator, with extraordinary accomplishments and forward-thinking ideas, she has always been committed to the power of film to educate and inspire," Sag Harbor Cinema board members said.

In addition, Gordon has been a senior lecturer and director of graduate studies in media arts since 2006 at Royal Holloway, University of London, where she ran a program in practical creative producing as well as screenwriting, script development, production management and global film finance.

And, as an associate arts professor of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Asia from 2009 to 2012, she was chair of the MA international media producing program in Singapore.

Gordon's local roots run deep: Her father, WWII hero Ernest Gordon, was the minister of the Presbyterian Church in Amagansett and dean of the chapel at Princeton University, where she was raised.

“Gillian’s qualifications were stunning, but what especially impressed those of us on the search committee was the way she quickly began inspiring us with her new, fresh ideas both for fundraising and for the Cinema itself. Her profound knowledge of and active participation in film and filmmaking, and her devotion to education and insistence on participation for every age group and cultural background in the Cinema, were determining factors in her hiring. We were entirely won over by her dynamism!” April Gornik, head of the board of the Cinema, said.

The Cinema board added: "We are thrilled to be making this announcement and welcome Gillian warmly back to the East End to lead ongoing efforts to bring the Sag Harbor Cinema back to the community."