THEJACOB BURNS FILM CENTER
Project 1: 2014: A Strategic Plan for an Art House Film Center
The Jacob Burns Film Center (JBFC) is one of America’s leading nonprofit cultural arts centers dedicated to film, visual literacy, and making film a vibrant part of its community. As the organization transitioned from its founding director to a new leader, as it expanded its campus, and as it approached its 15th birthday, it seemed an appropriate time to conduct a strategic planning process. Working with consultants from WolfBrown, JBFC decided that its staff should carry out much of the research and idea generation for the plan while WolfBrown would coordinate and give guidance to the process. WolfBrown consultants facilitated a number of task forces engaging board, staff, donors, and outside resource people in looking at planning issues in depth. A planning committee ensured that the full board was actively engaged in the year-long process that examined all aspects of programs, facilities, and infrastructure. Staff expertise and effort included development of situation papers on all aspects of JBFC and “best practice” research looking at peer organizations’ activities in a number of key areas. Staff also developed draft goals, strategies, and detailed action steps that were ultimately reviewed and approved by the Board. The final product included financial scenarios as well as timelines for proposed actions.
Three years later (2018) the Board and staff of the JBFC continue to use the strategic plan as a blueprint guiding daily operations and informing long-range planning and development. Using the plan, the Burns has steadily realized its vision of a film center as a “community center.”
Projects 2 and 3: 2017 and 2018: Assistance to Planning in Education
Building on the strategic plan, WolfBrown has continued to collaborate with the staff of the Burns’ Education Department, on the development, distribution, and evaluation of their innovative media literacy program, Image, Sound and Story. The process has resulted in: 1) a bold vision for the future of that program; and 2) the increasing integration of the main theater and the media lab programs into a life-long set of opportunities to think about and create in new media.
Consultants: Dennie Palmer Wolf, Thomas Wolf, Jane Culbert