James Woolley, who has been at the helm of the longest-running LGBTQ film festival in the world for the past four years, is leaving his post “to embark on a new adventure,” Frameline’s board of directors announced via email Thursday, Aug, 10.

Woolley plans to step down as Frameline’s executive director at the end of August because he has “accepted an external opportunity leading another film festival,” the board said in a statement. Neither Woolley nor the board disclosed his new position.

Allegra Madsen, the organization’s director of programming, will step into the role of acting executive director until a replacement is found, the Frameline statement said.

Woolley, who took over leadership of the festival in September 2019, told The Chronicle that he felt Frameline should move ahead “without the pandemic baggage.”

The pandemic shutdown in March 2020 forced that year’s Frameline, his first in charge, to become an online and drive-in event. The truncated festival’s centerpiece event included a special drive-in premiere of D’Arcy Drollinger’s film “S— & Champagne.”

The following year, the festival was a combination of in-person and streaming programming, and Frameline, in partnership with San Francisco Pride, set attendance records with two screenings at Oracle Park: “In the Heights” and “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.”

This year’s Frameline47, an 11-day in-person festival showcasing more than 100 films in several theaters throughout San Francisco and Oakland, concluded on June 24. It was followed by an “online encore” of select titles.

“I feel like I managed to get the company to almost pre-pandemic attendance numbers this year,” Woolley told The Chronicle. “The Frameline we had this year was so well-attended and so inspiring and beautiful. I felt like it was at a really stable and exciting place that felt ready for someone new to come in without the pandemic baggage.”

Frameline’s board thanked Woolley for his service and acknowledged that his tenure was challenged by the difficulties of the pandemic shutdowns.

“James’ forward-thinking approach allowed us to expand our reach, touching new audiences in new ways,” the board said.

The board expects to announce a new executive director before next year’s Frameline48, which is scheduled for June 12-21.

B. Ruby Rich, Film Quarterly Editor at Large and Frameline honoree, said the decision on who will succeed Woolley will be a crucial one.

“2023 is a time when LGBT+ festivals are crucially important,” Rich told The Chronicle. “I hope that someone suitably brilliant and able to raise money can take over the helm. Queer representation can’t be left to dedicated slots at mainstream festivals or an annual Teddy award. This is a festival and organization that really need to exist, in San Francisco, of all places!”

Woolley’s time with Frameline was not without its controversy. His endorsement of the proposal by Another Planet Entertainment to renovate the Castro Theatre, which included plans to remove the theatrical seating and demolish the auditorium’s sloped orchestra flooring, was counter to the position of other film festivals that use the theater. (The removal of the seats was approved in June by the city’s Historic Preservation Committee after more than a year of protests and campaigns on both sides of the issue.)

Woolley defended the decision and said the controversy did not factor into his decision to leave.

“In general, we’ve had a lot of support from our community because they know that we are a long-term renter of that venue and we have the interests of it at our heart,” he said. “We maintain that we’re looking for a venue that can play high-quality cinema and that Frameline can still have a home at. Under the current plan, we believe that’s still in place.

“I feel it’s all part of community passions and debate, and we always encourage everybody to have those debates. We were very happy that people felt so passionately about this.”

Woolley, a native of Australia, joined Frameline in September 2019, replacing Frances Wallace, who held the position for five years. Prior to Frameline, Woolley worked as Sydney Film Festival’s head of marketing and customer relations and as festival manager at Queer Screen’s Mardi Gras Film Festival in Sydney.

Although he said he could not say where he is headed next, Woolley did say San Francisco marked a special time in his life and he will return.

“I definitely will miss this whole ecosystem, but I’ll be back so often that I’m not sure it will feel like I’ve really gone,” he said.

Reach Tony Bravo: tbravo@sfchronicle.com. Reach G. Allen Johnson: ajohnson@sfchronicle.com.