Bob Daly Steps Down as AFI Board Chair After 17 Years

411_WIRE \ Industry NewsPublished Oct 15, 2026 1 min read

Bob Daly Steps Down as AFI Board Chair After 17 Years

By Kinolime Editorial Team // Verified Human Journalist Review

Summary

The former Warner Bros. co-CEO and CBS executive leaves the American Film Institute's board of directors leadership effective October 21.

"Bob Daly is stepping down as chairman of the American Film Institute's board of directors, effective October 21, TheWrap and Deadline reported on October 14. Daly was elected chair in 2009 and joined the board in 1981. No successor was named.

Daly spent 25 years at CBS before serving nearly two decades as chairman and co-CEO of Warner Bros., and later spent four years as chairman and CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He called the AFI chairmanship ""one of the greatest honors of my life."" AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale called Daly ""a master"" of leadership.

The board of directors is separate from AFI's Board of Trustees, which is chaired by Kathleen Kennedy. President Lyndon B. Johnson established AFI in 1967 to preserve film heritage, honor artists and educate new filmmakers, and the institute runs the AFI Conservatory and AFI Fest."

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The Kinolime Lens

A board chair leaving after 17 years rarely makes headlines outside the trade press, but AFI is not a typical nonprofit. It runs one of the country's most selective film conservatories, the AFI Fest in Los Angeles and an archive and preservation operation that depends on donor support from the studios. Daly came from the era when the studios were stable, vertically organized companies with a clear interest in funding film culture. That era is ending, and his successor will inherit a very different set of benefactors.

The studios that historically underwrote institutions like AFI are merging, cutting staff and reconsidering every expense that does not tie directly to revenue. Preservation and education budgets are easy targets in that environment. AFI also faces the same questions as every film school about what it is training students for when entry-level studio jobs are disappearing and independent financing is harder to secure. A new chair will need to answer those questions while raising money from a smaller pool of corporate donors.

Leadership transitions at cultural institutions often signal a change in direction, and the choice of replacement will show where AFI sees its future. A studio veteran suggests continuity and access to legacy relationships. A figure from tech, streaming or independent film would suggest the institute is preparing for a funding model that relies less on the old guard. AFI has not said when it will name a successor.

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