Janet Curran was the managing director of Images Cinema in Williamstown from 2007 to 2026. After reworking their staffing to hire more box office staff for the opening of its second screen, Images Cinema said it made the difficult decision to eliminate Curran's role.

WILLIAMSTOWN — As Images Cinema nears reopening after months of renovation — including the addition of a second screen — more than the theater itself will look different.

Its longtime managing director, Janet Curran, who for two decades was a familiar face inside the Spring Street movie theater, will not be there. Her last day was Jan. 2.

In what Executive Director Dan Hudson called a “very difficult and challenging decision” ahead of the organization’s restructuring, Curran’s position was eliminated. Though she was disappointed by the change and is still figuring out her next steps, Curran said she cherishes the memories made during her tenure. And, she added, that her work at the theater was integral to becoming part of the Williamstown community.

Curran began volunteering at Images in 2002 shortly after graduating college, then became a programming assistant in 2003 and managing director in 2007. Curran said she was notified her role was eliminated around Thanksgiving.

“They told me that the organization was too small to have two directors, and the finances were such that they needed to eliminate my position,” she told The Eagle.

Images Cinema on Spring Street in Williamstown has begun work on its long planned Capital Project to renovate and upgrade its facility.

To meet expanded hours for the second screen, Hudson said the cinema is increasing box office and bartending staff, which required adjusting the cinema's payroll and staffing plan.

“We all really liked Janet and appreciated what she brought to the table,” said Hudson. “Like ... a lot of other arts and cultural nonprofits post-COVID, [we] have had to be thinking carefully about how nimble we are from a staffing perspective. The organization just cannot see a roadmap to continuing to support two full-time senior administrative positions, which, again, is a really challenging situation to be in, but it was a necessary business decision.”

A lifelong movie and musical lover, Curran said it was a great education to join Images in the early 2000s as independent film was “bursting out.”

As she moved up the ladder to managing director, Curran oversaw the box office, volunteers, marketing, was involved with programming, and steered community engagement — her favorite part of the job. When the lounge space opened in 2023, she also became its manager.

Besides getting to do what she loved, Curran worked under the past three leaders of Images: Sandra Thomas, who steered the organization from 2002 to 2014; then Doug Jones, who led the theater until 2022; and current director Hudson.

Images Cinema on Spring Street in Williamstown has begun work to renovate and upgrade the theaters. While the main theater is closed for renovations, programming continues in its lounge space with bartender hours and cinema lounge shows.

First as an intern under Thomas, Curran ran the “Focus” arts newsletter. She was inspired by her early days working under Thomas, who she said often said "yes" to community collaboration and "grew Images so much."

Under Thomas, Curran got her first taste of programming collaboration and eventually programmed an all-ages series, which she saw as important work because it was cultivating the “next generation of moviegoers.”

“The people who come to the movies are people who had good experiences as children going to the movies,” she said.

Under Jones, who died in 2023 and who she described as a “legend of film programming,” Curran continued to grow. One of her highlights was just before the pandemic when she programmed Images' “20th Century Women” series, which featured films about women activists from the last hundred years paired with local guest speakers.

After a community member recommended the idea, Curran ran with it.

“I think this kind of exemplifies how community programs can come to be at Images,” she said. “I was so proud of it, because it really came together so organically, and it really felt like there was so much interest in the films and the audience was so intergenerational.”

Hudson recognized Curran's knack and dedication to community engagement.

"It's one of the things that the leadership of the organization really appreciated about Janet, and I think it's one of the things that she's really known for and been beloved in the community," he said.

Curran was offered another job by Images, according to both she and Hudson. Hudson said the offer was a change of “base hours worked per week,” and that the new job would've focused on the cinema's lounge space. Curran said her job would have "essentially been reduced to running the lounge and bartending” and a reduction of hours.

“After some conversations, she ultimately declined the offer of that position and asked for severance,” said Hudson. “So the organization, on our limited means, put together what we thought was the best severance package that we could offer, and we're rather sad that she decided to move on, but wanted to respect that decision.”

It was her years working with volunteers and community programming that she found friends and people who blurred the lines between customers, staff and friends.

“That's a part of my job that I just never wanted to let go of,” she said.

As she figures out what’s next, the community has rallied around Curran, starting a GoFundMe that has raised over $15,000 as of March 20. She called it moving that people would come together for her.

“I'm still kind of adjusting to the reality that I am not a part of Images anymore,” she said. “I still love a lot of people who work there, and I miss feeling like I was really in the thick of the community. I've been figuring out how to still really be an active part of the community.”

She became emotional recalling her 20th-year celebration shortly before Jones left, when the group asked her to say a speech.

“I talked about how all my life, I had been looking for a place to belong, and I found it at Images,” she said. “The person that I am is because of my time at Images.”