Associate Director and Veteran Film Programmer Todd Hitchcock Named to Replace Barry
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 22, 2023, Los Angeles, CA – The American Film Institute (AFI) announced today that Ray Barry, Director of the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, will retire this month after nearly 50 years at AFI. Silver Theatre Director of Programming and Associate Director of the Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, Todd Hitchcock has been named as Barry’s replacement.
Ray Barry has been a fixture at AFI for nearly 50 years, serving as the Director of the AFI Theater at the John F. Kennedy Center, and later spearheading AFI’s initiative to restore the historic Silver Theatre and transform it into the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center—a state-of-the-art center for the moving image. He was also instrumental in the launch of many of AFI’s national programs over the years, including AFI FEST in Los Angeles and the AFI/Discovery Channel SILVERDOCS Documentary Film Festival, the annual AFI European Union Film Showcase and AFI Latin American Film Festival in Washington, DC, as well as having developed a wide variety of special exhibition projects for presentation both in the United States and overseas.
“It has been an honor and privilege to have Ray as a long-time leader in the AFI family. He has worn many hats over his nearly 50 years at AFI – from the earliest days of the AFI Theater in the Kennedy Center to the Director of the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center. His impact on AFI and the national film community is immeasurable, as is his long-standing dedication to the magic of movies,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO. “We look forward to building on Ray’s legacy with Todd Hitchcock, who brings a wealth of experience and world-class film programming to this new role.”
“It has been a great privilege to work for so many years in a career devoted to bringing the best in American and world cinema to the screen. And for the past 20 years to do this work at an historic theater that is so deeply anchored in the fabric of its community as the AFI Silver, has been the experience of a lifetime,” said Ray Barry. “Together with so many exceptional friends and colleagues, we’ve had the privilege of educating and entertaining millions of people, and I look forward to seeing the many great things to come for AFI Silver under the leadership of Todd Hitchcock.”
As Director of Programming at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, Todd Hitchcock has overseen numerous international film festivals, retrospectives, first-run engagements and special events, including planning, programming and producing the AFI Latin American Film Festival, the AFI European Union Film Showcase and the New African Film Festival, and classics in Noir City DC (co-presented with Eddie Muller’s Film Noir Foundation) and the Silent Cinema Showcase. Hitchcock began his career at AFI in 2003 working on the inaugural edition of SILVERDOCS before joining AFI Silver’s year-round programming team, and has also served as the Silver’s Associate Theatre Director for the past ten years.
“Ray Barry has guided AFI Silver to great heights over these past 20 years, including navigating us through the many challenges of the pandemic,” said Todd Hitchcock. “It’s been a pleasure to learn from and work with him over these years, and I’m sincerely honored to be continuing along the path he blazed as we pursue the next chapter for our theater and our dedicated moviegoing audiences.”
Learn more about the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center and view screening information at AFISilver.AFI.com.
About the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center
The AFI Silver and Cultural Center is one of the nation’s premier film theatres, building an appreciation of the art and artists through exploring and celebrating new and classic films and filmmakers from around the globe. AFI Silver offers a year-round program of the best in American and international cinema, featuring a dynamic mix of retrospectives, special events, tributes, on-stage guest appearances, specialty first-run movies, festivals, premieres and education and community-based programs in a theatrical setting of the highest standards. Anchored by the stunningly restored 1938 Silver Theatre, the three-screen AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center is a state-of-the-art film and digital media exhibition venue that serves as a national model for preserving and honoring our shared film and film-going heritage. Read about all of these programs and more at AFI.com/Silver, and follow us on social media at and follow us on social media at Facebook.com/afisilvertheatre, youtube.com/AFISilverTheatre, twitter.com/AFISilver and Instagram.com/afisilvertheatre/.
About the American Film Institute (AFI)
The American Film Institute (AFI) is a nonprofit organization with a mandate to champion the moving image as an art form. Established in 1967, AFI launched the first comprehensive history of American film and sparked the movement for film preservation in the United States. In 1969, AFI opened the doors of the AFI Conservatory, a graduate-level program to train narrative filmmakers. The Conservatory, which counts Deniese Davis, Affonso Gonçalves, Susannah Grant, Matthew Libatique, David Lynch, Melina Matsoukas and Rachel Morrison as Alumni, is ranked the #1 film school in America. AFI’s enduring traditions include the AFI Life Achievement Award, which honors the masters for work that has stood the test of time; AFI AWARDS, which celebrates the creative ensembles of the most outstanding screen stories of the year; and scholarly efforts such as the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and the AFI Archive that preserve film history for future generations. AFI exhibition programs include AFI FEST and year-round exhibition at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Maryland. AFI Movie Club is a destination for movie lovers from around the world to celebrate and engage with the art form every day. Other pioneering programs include workshops aimed at increasing diversity in the storytelling community, including AFI DWW+ and the AFI Cinematography Intensive for Women. Read about all of these programs and more at AFI.com and follow us on social media at Facebook.com/AmericanFilmInstitute, YouTube.com/AFI, Twitter.com/AmericanFilm and Instagram.com/AmericanFilmInstitute.
Press contact:
American Film Institute: Shari Mesulam, [email protected]
