WICHITA, KAN — The Wichita Association for the Motion Picture Arts has named Mike Marlett as Executive Director for 2010. WAMPA is the parent organization of the Tallgrass Film Festival, which will be Oct. 22-24.

Marlett has been a board member of WAMPA since 2005, when he was the editor-in-chief of the Wichita-based alternative weekly newspaper F5 and later The Wichita City Paper. He is the first person to officially hold the WAMPA executive director title since Tallgrass Film Festival founder Timothy Gruver passed away unexpectedly in 2005. Four-time Tallgrass Film Festival director Lela Meadow-Conner will return as the festival director for the eighth annual event.

The goal, Marlett said, is to have a year-round leader for the already year-round schedule of events that WAMPA puts on. “Tallgrass has been successful, and our non-Tallgrass events, such as the Third Thursday Film Series and the Cinema Al Fresco Series, have been wildly successful,” Marlett said. “We now have the opportunity to build our membership and sponsorship and really reach out with our educational programs, but to do that WAMPA needs a full-time leader all year long.”

WAMPA board president Ann Keefer said, “The WAMPA Board of Directors is thrilled to have an Executive Director again. Mike’s knowledge of WAMPA and his history with the board ensures continued growth of our year-round programs. More importantly, having the position filled allows Lela to focus all her attention and talent on keeping Tallgrass the preeminent festival that Wichitans and visiting filmmakers have come to love.”

The 2009 Tallgrass Film Festival saw a 420% increase in net income over 2008 for WAMPA. Despite a recession and difficult charitable climate, Tallgrass also saw a nearly 20% increase in the number of sponsors. The 2009 Tallgrass Film Festival screened 24 feature length films and 48 short films over three days.

“The Tallgrass Film Festival has become a fixture in the Wichita community, and the sponsors and public are responding to that,” Marlett said. “WAMPA really wants to build on those strengths and bring more to the people of Wichita.”