The American Film Institute's executive vice president Jonathan Estrin will depart his post after three years on Sept 28 to pursue other opportunities.

Estrin will continue as a consultant for AFI on a variety of projects. During his tenure he was instrumental in designing the AFI Dallas International Film Festival and initiated and oversaw the evolution of the AFI K-12 Screen Education Centre into an online nationwide resource.

He led the AFI response to Hurricane Katrina by creating an extensive relationship with the University Of New Orleans Film Department that continues today.

Prior to AFI, Estrin served as Dean of the College Of Media Arts & Design at Drexel University. He has also produced and written more than 100 hours of television including the recent Showtime original film Jasper, Texas starring Jon Voight and Louis Gosset Jr. He is currently writing a stage play for Participant Productions about activism.

'Jonathan Estrin is a first-class person whose commitment and insights were particularly valuable to AFI during a transitional period,' outgoing AFI president and chief executive officer Jean Picker Firstenberg said.

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