An exodus in the last year of staff at the Cleveland International Film Festival, some of whom described to Ideastream Public Media a "toxic" work environment — as well as increasing financial pressure on the nonprofit — have raised concerns about the organization's future.
The executive director, who has been in place for a year and helmed last year's festival, said she was brought in to shepherd change and make tough decisions.
“That's interesting,” said CIFF Executive Director Hermione Malone said of the former employees' concerns.
“Change is never really easy and we've gone through a period where expectations shifted and roles evolved and yes, some very tough decisions had to be made," she said. "We have taken time to listen, to reflect, to recalibrate both internally and externally, and I think I'm focused on building a team rooted in clarity, shared values and respect.”
One former employee described a “toxic” work environment driven by a “belittling” management style, while another claimed an “embarrassing” lack of attention to festival sponsors. Both said they believed that Board President Joe Marinucci did not address their concerns. They said they also left without a new position lined up, despite the film festival being their dream jobs.
“I genuinely don't even think that it's going to make it to the 50th next year because of the way things are going,” said one former staffer. Each of the former staffers who talked with Ideastream asked to remain anonymous because they feared retribution.
Malone is the fourth person to lead CIFF since its founding in 1977, succeeding Marcie Goodman, who retired after 23 years at the helm, saying she wanted to give her successor time to plan a golden jubilee.
The staff remained mostly intact at first, but has since moved on — as have many of their replacements, who were there less than a year.
This month, Mallory Martin resigned after 15 years, the last five as artistic director, responsible for choosing films, programming the festival and managing ticket sales, among other duties. Former employees say it's the festival's most crucial role.
Her resignation was a “surprise” to staff, according to Kelly Standish, the festival’s development director and only full-time, non-contract employee under Malone. Before her tenure, there were eight full-time employees, including the executive director.
Standish, who came aboard in January, said she’s had a good working relationship with Malone, but acknowledge seeing what she described as some “horrible” treatment of colleagues.
An internal email obtained by Ideastream outlined a plan to engage Improve Consulting and Training Group, a professional development consulting firm. In it, Marinucci assured staffers that Improve’s Ellen Burt-Cooper had “reviewed the summaries and emails you previously provided to me.” A later email stated that he believed “the dialogue created by this platform will help us identify any needed policies and procedures going forward.”
Malone said there is not currently a contract in place with Improve, but that she finds “tremendous benefit” in working with external consultants.
“Any time the executive director of a nonprofit, even a for-profit, who's been around for 30-plus years departs," she said, "it offers the opportunity for self-reflection and reexamination of everything we're doing from soup to nuts.”
By the numbers
Malone points to CIFF’s 990 forms, the financial disclosures filed by nonprofits, as a guide to why change is needed.
“There isn't a way to look at the challenges that this organization was staring down for the past four years and walk away thinking we have to keep everything the same,” she said.
She said there’s concern about increasing costs, changes in federal funding and tariffs that could impact corporate donors. After four years, PNC Bank ended its sponsorship ahead of the 2025 festival. A PNC spokesman said it would be “premature” to discuss plans for 2026.
For the 50th, Standish said this year’s sponsors, Dollar Bank and Huntington, have not yet re-committed. She outlined a reserve account that has dipped from $3 million to about $1 million. Expenditures have been climbing, while revenue has only slightly rebounded since the pandemic. In 2023, CIFF took in $2.42 million versus $3.5 million in 2019.
Attendance numbers have also not returned. CIFF went virtual in 2020-21. For the next three years, 2022-24, average in-person attendance was 32,799. Malone estimated that they hosted about 30,000 viewers in 2025. The pre-COVID average, from 2017-19, was 105,999.
One way Malone plans to save money is by switching to a virtual office. The Cleveland Film Society’s lease on its Ohio City office expires in August. After that, staff would work virtually and only be in town during the festival itself, possibly in a short-term co-working space. Standish, who is local, said she believes the chief fundraiser should be connected locally.
Will all of the remote positions, perhaps all over the country, remove the “Cleveland-ness” from the festival? Malone said no, since programming staff is already based in different parts of the country, working remotely, and has been for several years.
A national search is underway for Martin’s replacement, Malone said.
In addition to staff departures, there was a board resignation this week that surprised longtime CIFF employees. Lawyer Chris Blake resigned. A longtime CIFF supporter, he’s held several board positions over the past 20 years, including president from 2018-24. Neither Martin nor Blake responded to a request for comment, with Blake referring questions to Marinucci, his successor as president. Marinucci referred questions to Malone.
Malone came to CIFF after working in nonprofit management in New Orleans. Prior to that, the Detroit native spent 13 years in Northeast Ohio in leadership positions at the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals. She said there will be a “high energy and celebratory” CIFF50.
“I didn't walk into the role anticipating that I would be able to keep everything the same,” she said. “I think if we could have done that … there wouldn't have been a need to recruit me into the role.”
