New York Stage and Film has named Ian Belknap the company's new artistic director. Belknap will officially start in the role November 11, succeeding Interim Artistic Director Liz Carlson. The company has also promoted Producing Associate Isabelle (Fereshteh) Sanatdar Stevens to the role of associate artistic director.
Belknap's appointment follows a search for new leadership facilitated by Culture Change Lab. The search included 125 applicants, with finalists invited to join during the company's 2024 summer season at Marist College for in-person interviews.
“For the last several years, I have been developing new work for television and film, during which my love for the theatre never wavered,” says Belknap in a statement. “It’s thrilling for me to lead New York Stage and Film as their mission to develop new work across these mediums matches my passion and incessant curiosity to explore how theatre, film, and television can overlap, inform, and inspire each other. These art forms live closer than ever, and the possibilities to develop stories with authors working in these mediums feels endless. I’m particularly thrilled to be in collaboration with Isabelle Fereshteh Sanatdar Stevens as associate artistic director. Isabelle’s impressive intellect and dramaturgical savvy are only matched by their sense of humor and warmth."
“Ian has been a champion of writers' new work, Shakespeare, young directors, and theatre practitioners in every aspect of making theatre that spans over a decade,” adds writer and frequent NYSAF artist Marcus Gardley. “Not only is he genuinely kind, but he is also a tireless leader, and his passion for making and nurturing plays is unparalleled. I cannot be more thrilled knowing that he's at the helm of this new chapter at New York Stage and Film. This is a massive win for the field at a time when incubators for new work are few and far between."
The group will celebrate its 40th anniversary season in 2025, with programming, legacy events, and partnerships to be announced. The company has developed almost 1,000 new stories for stage and screen with their annual summer programming and year-round NYC-based offerings.
Viist NewYorkStageandFilm.org.
