In a shake-up of its top leadership, the Film Society of Lincoln Center said its executive director, Rose Kuo, was resigning after nearly three and a half years in the role and would be replaced, on an interim basis, by Lesli Klainberg, the society’s current managing director.
Ms. Klainberg, 49, a producer and director of independent documentaries, has been managing director at the film society for almost two years. Between 2008 and 2011, she was executive director of NewFest, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender film festival.
She produced the last three New York Film Festivals, which the film society runs.
For nearly 50 years, the society has been one of the leading film institutions in the United States, especially in New York City, where it has introduced generations of moviegoers to the titans of cinema.
But the organization, founded in 1969, has had to become more competitive in recent years, especially with the emergence of foreign and independent cinemas at locations like the Tribeca Film Festival and the IFC Center, not to mention stalwarts like Film Forum and the Museum of Modern Art.
Though the film society is known for festivals and repertory programming, it also screens first-run movies. Among those have been some hits like the documentary “20 Feet From Stardom,” which has grossed $4.8 million nationwide, according to boxofficemojo.com, but more typical are smaller releases like “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” which took in less than $400,000 nationwide, according to the site.
Asked in an interview on Wednesday whether the society’s theaters were running close to capacity, Ms. Klainberg said that she did not have the numbers immediately available, but that this was not a reason for the leadership change.
“That is not a concern,” she said. “That is not why we are initiating anything.” She added, “We are a not-for-profit. We have a mission.”
She said she was looking forward to working with the society’s board. “We are going to have a really great, very transparent relationship. That is already in play. People know me.”
She said that it was too early to discuss any new direction she might have in mind for the society, but that she would look to build on Ms. Kuo’s achievements. “We see no big wholesale changes in what we are doing,” Ms. Klainberg said. “We are not looking to fix something that is broken.”
Ms. Kuo, 53, with a background largely in programming, was appointed in July 2010. She followed Mara Manus, who spent less than two years in the role and whose tenure was marked somewhat by discord and worries about fund-raising at a time when the society was expanding.
That expansion, budgeted at more than $40 million, included two new theaters as well as offices and a cafe, part of the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, named after a donor. The new center, which opened in 2011, joined the Walter Reade Theater, which the Film Society also operates. The project, part of a broader redevelopment of the Lincoln Center campus, has added extra capacity that the Film Society has had to fill.The group has since raised the money to pay fully for the new construction, it said.
Now that Ms. Kuo had overseen the expansion, she and the society decided it was time to move on, the institution said in a statement. “It has been an honor and a privilege to steward the film society through an amazing period of transformation and growth into new frontiers,” Ms. Kuo said in the statement. “The organization is now in a perfect place for me to make my own transition.”
She could not be reached for further comment, but Ann Tenenbaum, the chairwoman of the society’s board, said Ms. Kuo had “guided us through an incredible growth period.”
A spokeswoman for the organization, Courtney Ott, said she could not comment on whether there had been a discussion of Ms. Kuo’s continuing as executive director until a replacement could be found, and Ms. Klainberg said that there was no time frame for the search for a new permanent executive director.
In the meantime, Ms. Kuo, whose last day in that position was Wednesday, will remain as a consultant through the first quarter of 2014 to assist with the transition, the film society said. Ms. Klainberg added that there was no formal agreement about that consulting work. In other staffing changes this year, Robert Koehler, the society’s year-round director of programming, resigned and was replaced by Dennis Lim, a critic and journalist.
Mr. Koehler and Kent Jones were appointed in 2012 to replace Richard Peña, who was the programming director of the Film Society and the chairman of the selection committee for the New York Film Festival.
Robin Pogrebin contributed reporting to this article.