American Splendor Producer Ted Hope Named CEO of Fandor

Fandor, the curated online service for exceptional independent and international films, this week announced that former San Francisco Film Society Executive Director and award-winning independent producer Ted Hope, has been named Chief Executive Officer. His official start date is January 30th. "Our entire film culture remains structured around antiquated concepts of cinema, audience, and engagement," said Hope, "Fandor is part of a great systems reboot of this ecosystem, one that is as equally rewarding for the artist and the audience." Continuing, Hope added that "Fandor offers film fans better curation and deeper engagement, making ambitious, diverse, and vibrant film culture a sustainable enterprise for all participants. Fandor is the cure for Fear Of Missing Out."

Hope is an influential figure in the film community who has served as inspiration and mentor to countless filmmakers. He's best known in comics circles for having produced American Splendor, the adaptation of Harvey Pekar's autobiographical comic book series starring The Amazing Spider-Man 2's Paul Giamatti. Hope was most recently the Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society where he successfully raised significant new sponsorship funding, expanded the San Francisco International Film Festival's offerings to include the innovative Artist to Entrepreneur (A2E) program and launched their new Fall Awards event. He will continue with SFFS on the Advisory Board. Fandor Board of Directors member and former Facebook executive Chris Kelly welcomed Hope to the company, remarking that "Ted has repeatedly proven his entrepreneurial talents over the years in making incredible films and articulating a powerful future vision for the independent film business," adding, "We're thrilled to have him lead Fandor's quest to remake the film ecosystem." "Ted's front-line view of how social networks, mass-availability of media content, and the empowerment of audiences change film will assure that Fandor accelerates its pioneering approach to curation and digital content distribution," Kelly said.