Jean Firstenberg

With all the other things to be said about it, Jean Firstenberg remarked the other afternoon, "Twin Peaks" reflected nicely on the American Film Institute. Its creator, David Lynch, had left the Philadelphia School of Art to start a new life in film at the AFI. "He was so broke," Firstenberg said, "that he lived in the stables at Greystone, having himself locked in at night so the security guards wouldn't find him and throw him out."

Bob Gazzale was only 9 years old when he watched a tribute to actor James Cagney on the American Film Institute's "Life Achievement Awards" television special, but from that moment, he began to fall in love with movies and moviemaking. Years later Gazzale would find himself producing and writing the same show, even receiving multiple Emmy nominations as producer and writer. He also conceived another AFI special that became a vital moneymaker for the organization -- the "AFI's 100 Years ..."

The AFI's annual Life Achievement Award banquet, which tonight honors Jack Lemmon, has become one of the hottest tickets in Hollywood--never hotter than for Lemmon, one of the industry's best-liked figures. The award itself, devised more than a decade ago as a fund-raising activity by the AFI's founding director George Stevens Jr., has like all honors been defined by those who have won it (e.g., Cagney, Hitchcock, Welles).

Jean Picker Firstenberg, who helped turn the American Film Institute into a Hollywood cultural landmark and a leading film school -- and generated plenty of controversy in the process -- is stepping down as director and chief executive officer in 2007. Only the second person to lead AFI in its 40-year history, Firstenberg disclosed her retirement plans Thursday morning to AFI's board of trustees.

Ronald Reagan's last film was supposed to be the first TV movie. But "The Killers," which also starred Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson and John Cassavetes, was deemed "too violent" for television and was released in the theaters instead. That left it to John Forsythe and his mobster chase drama, "See How They Run," to inaugurate the genre on NBC on Oct. 7, 1964. A month later, NBC was back with "The Hanged Man," starring Robert Culp and Vera Miles, and a new industry was born. Nearly 2,500 films have followed.

Since filmmakers first arrived in Hollywood, the enterprise of making motion pictures has often involved a brutal collision of art and commerce, with commerce generally coming out on top. That film can be art now seems beyond question, but in Hollywood, where "Leprechaun II" co-exists with "12 Monkeys," discussions about the place film occupies in high culture--common during Oscar season--often seem disingenuous, at best.

Jean Picker Firstenberg, who helped turn the American Film Institute into a Hollywood cultural landmark and a leading film school -- and generated plenty of controversy in the process -- is stepping down as director and chief executive officer in 2007. Only the second person to lead AFI in its 40-year history, Firstenberg disclosed her retirement plans Thursday morning to AFI's board of trustees.

Bob Gazzale was only 9 years old when he watched a tribute to actor James Cagney on the American Film Institute's "Life Achievement Awards" television special, but from that moment, he began to fall in love with movies and moviemaking. Years later Gazzale would find himself producing and writing the same show, even receiving multiple Emmy nominations as producer and writer. He also conceived another AFI special that became a vital moneymaker for the organization -- the "AFI's 100 Years ..."

The Directors Guild of America will present a tribute to former DGA president Franklin Schaffner at 6 p.m. today in the Directors Guild Theater in Hollywood. Schaffner died July 2 from cancer at age 69. DGA president Arthur Hiller will conduct today's memorial and speakers will include Patricia Berry, Fielder Cook, Gordon Davidson, Jean Firstenberg, Charlton Heston, Fay Kanin, Karl Malden and George Schaefer. Excerpts from Schaffner's long career in television and films will be shown.

A passion for film PATRICK Goldstein's attack on American Film Institute director Jean Firstenberg ("AFI's Declining 'Best of' Moments," June 17) -- someone willing to dedicate her life to the preservation of film art, develop passion in the hearts of new filmmakers and inspire associations with benefactors -- is unfair. The path she has chosen to make it happen is just that -- her choice. You want to do it differently? Have the courage to quit your job and apply for hers. Deborahm Pratt Los Angeles

Since filmmakers first arrived in Hollywood, the enterprise of making motion pictures has often involved a brutal collision of art and commerce, with commerce generally coming out on top. That film can be art now seems beyond question, but in Hollywood, where "Leprechaun II" co-exists with "12 Monkeys," discussions about the place film occupies in high culture--common during Oscar season--often seem disingenuous, at best.

With all the other things to be said about it, Jean Firstenberg remarked the other afternoon, "Twin Peaks" reflected nicely on the American Film Institute. Its creator, David Lynch, had left the Philadelphia School of Art to start a new life in film at the AFI. "He was so broke," Firstenberg said, "that he lived in the stables at Greystone, having himself locked in at night so the security guards wouldn't find him and throw him out."

Ronald Reagan's last film was supposed to be the first TV movie. But "The Killers," which also starred Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson and John Cassavetes, was deemed "too violent" for television and was released in the theaters instead. That left it to John Forsythe and his mobster chase drama, "See How They Run," to inaugurate the genre on NBC on Oct. 7, 1964. A month later, NBC was back with "The Hanged Man," starring Robert Culp and Vera Miles, and a new industry was born. Nearly 2,500 films have followed.

The AFI's annual Life Achievement Award banquet, which tonight honors Jack Lemmon, has become one of the hottest tickets in Hollywood--never hotter than for Lemmon, one of the industry's best-liked figures. The award itself, devised more than a decade ago as a fund-raising activity by the AFI's founding director George Stevens Jr., has like all honors been defined by those who have won it (e.g., Cagney, Hitchcock, Welles).

Jim Schachter's article about Peter O'Malley ("O'Malley's Way," Aug. 18) strikes out in the face of the facts. Dodger fans love the stadium, the landscaping, the parking, the manager and the players--those 25 guys who never do it the simple way but who almost always keep it exciting. And we respect the owners, too. They are a class act, with the best-run, most successful management in baseball. Only The Times seems unappreciative. JEAN FIRSTENBERG Los Angeles

The American Film Institute's International Film Festival is homeless no more. The festival will be held at the Cineplex Odeon Century Plaza Cinemas this year and for years to come, it was announced Monday. "It's thrilling to now have a permanent home," AFI Director Jean Firstenberg said. Patrons of the festival's former incarnation as Filmex should feel right at home--Century City was that festival's location for years.