National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
135596800
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2124659166
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$678,372
Expenses
$628,129
Assets
$646,561
Liabilities
$88,415

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SARAH MERRITT EASTMAN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ANNIE SCHULHOF (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ORSON ROBBINS-PIANKA (MANAGING DIRECTOR): $193,473 total reported compensation
  • WENDY SMITH (CREATIVE DIRECTOR): $155,125 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The purpose of the corporation is to promote excellence in film through the public recognition of exceptional filmmaking achievements. The corporation annually screens over 250 feature films and over 60 student-made short films and presents awards and grants honoring the most outstanding. In keeping with its own century-old history protecting freedom of expression in film, the corporation also honors achievements in film history and in freedom of expression.

What it reported doing in 2024

Since 1909, the national board of review has dedicated its efforts to the support of cinema as both art and entertainment. Each year, this select group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals and academics participates in illuminating discussions with directors, actors, producers and screenwriters before announcing their selections for the best work of the year. Since first citing year-end cinematic achievements in 1929, nbr has recognized a vast selection of outstanding studio, independent, foreign-language, animated and documentary films, often propelling recipients such as peter farrlly's green book and george miller's mad max: fury road into the largest awards conversation. In addition, one of the organization's core values is identifying new talent and nurturing young filmmakers by awarding promising talent with directorial debut and breakthrough performance awards as well as grants to rising film students. With its continued efforts to assist up-and-coming artists in completing and presenting their work, nbr honors its commitment to not just identifying the best that current cinema has to offer, but also ensuring the quality of films for future generations to come.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 87% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.3%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 79%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.89 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 90.3%; rating input score 90; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.4%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.03; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 55.5%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -5% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.3% of revenue deployed · 79% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $496K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $193K · 15 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.