Maud Van de Velde becomes director of the Toneelhuis

Maud Van de Velde, who mainly has experience in the film sector, will become the new general director of the Antwerp city theater. She must help find a successor for Guy Cassiers as artistic director, who will stay until June 2022.

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In the newly created position as general manager, Van de Velde must above all develop a strategy and vision for the Toneelhuis, the largest subsidized theater in Flanders, located in the Bourla in Antwerp.

Van de Velde has no experience in the theater world. That does not have to be a problem, according to the Toneelhuis. “Its extensive experience in the film and entertainment sector is a very strong asset now that the cultural sector must reinvent itself through the security measures imposed under covid-19,” a press release said.

Another important assignment will be to lead the search for a new artistic leader, now that Guy Cassiers will stop in June 2022. An earlier attempt to find a new artistic leader was unsuccessful in November 2019, after a tumultuous selection procedure, internal unrest. and the subsequent departure of business leader Klaartje Heiremans.

Filmervaring

Until October 2019, van de Velde was management director at Fox Belgium, where she and her team distributed all 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros film titles in Belgium and Luxembourg. She was previously head of the international content section of the Kinepolis Group, where she also brought opera, theater and sports to the cinema in addition to films. She started her career as a movie buyer for VTM. Antwerp is a member of the board of the Ostend Film Festival, the Ensors and the Flemish Audiovisual Fund.

The Van de Velde mandate starts on 1 September 2020, runs for five years and can be extended once.

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