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Hawaii film
festival names
new executive
director

Chuck Boller, an entertainment
attorney, steps into the post

By Tim Ryan
Star-Bulletin

The Hawaii International Film Festival has selected Chuck Boller, its managing director and general counsel, as its executive director.

HIFF's directors completed Boller's contract last night. Sources said it will pay him less than the $80,000 a year paid his predecessor, Christian Gaines, who resigned under board pressure earlier this year.

Jeff Portnoy, president of HIFF's board of directors, refused to disclose Boller's salary, saying it is not public information and the organization is not under any legal obligation to report it.

Boller, who was not available for comment, was selected for his "institutional history, and his solid relationships with important political and business people in the community," Portnoy said.

During the search for a new director, the board considered splitting HIFF's top job between an artistic director and a managing director. The board abandoned the idea because it had so many applicants qualified for the full position that it didn't see a need to split it, Portnoy said.

More than 70 people from around the world submitted resumes for the position, which was pared to eight finalists, including four from Hawaii.

"We thought that Chuck, with some assistance from the staff, including a full-time programmer, would fit the bill for director," Portnoy said.

Boller, a mild-mannered administrator and avid swimmer, faces big obstacles with HIFF's financial debts. Though HIFF made money in last year's festival, the organization remains about $90,000 in debt from prior years.

"We do have a problem in getting rid of that deficit," Portnoy said.

But he emphasized that HIFF has made "enormous financial strides" in raising funds, including this year's Academy Awards party and last weekend's Spring Film Festival. The party netted $11,000 and the Spring Film Festival -- the organization's most successful in history -- attracted more than 5,700 people to see nine films, netting $20,000.

HIFF's budget this year is expected to be $600,000 to $700,000.

Boller is an entertainment attorney with specialties in copyright, contracts and nonprofit law, with more than 28 years of industry experience. He started working with HIFF in 1989 when he was in Hawaii with the National Geographic Society on a production.