Chief Executive, American Film Institute

Gazzale provides steady leadership to a foremost Hollywood nonprofit which recently broke ground for the Lawrence Herbert Alumni Center on its 8-acre campus overlooking Hollywood. After Covid interruptions, the 48th AFI Life Achievement Award honoring Julie Andrews was scheduled for June 9, and applications to the AFI Conservatory film school remain high. The organization hosts two annual film festivals –one in Los Angeles and the other in Washington, D.C. Blue chip Hollywood filmmakers and executives sit on its board. Gazzale is a film historian and Emmy-winning producer, who joined in 1992 and took his current permanent staff job in 2007.

YEARS ON THE LA500: 4