Fans of throwing paper airplanes at movie stars are keeping their fingers crossed for FLiCKs. After experiencing organizational and technical trouble earlier this quarter, the movie-screening organization faces yet another obstacle.

Ongoing sound system issues caused the weekly program to cancel its November screenings following a problematic showing of “The Bourne Ultimatum” on Oct. 14. As the program attempts to meet its stated goal of a Dec. 2 re-launch, one that would coincide with Big Game weekend, it will also be handling a change in leadership.

Citing excessive time demands and a need to focus on schoolwork, FLiCKs director Mathew Crichton ‘10 announced that he will be stepping down at the end of this quarter. Filling Crichton’s position will be current associate director Kyle Evaldez ‘09.

“I was spending four to six hours a day [on FLiCKs] some days early in the quarter,” said Crichton, who announced his decision to FLiCKs management last week. “After four weeks, that’s a lot of time.”

Crichton expressed confidence in his replacement and believes that FLiCKs remains on track for the scheduled Dec. 2 return.

“I’ve been training Kyle since he got on, helping teach him how FLiCKs works,” Crichton said. “He knows his stuff.”

FLiCKs marketing executive Lauren Rosas ‘09 has also been involved in planning the re-launch and agrees that Evaldez will steer the program in the right direction.

“The transition from the current director to the new director should be pretty smooth,” she said. “Matt and Kyle have been working very closely this quarter, so I’m pretty confident that Kyle is well-trained for the job.”

Evaldez himself said the news that Crichton would be leaving came as a surprise, but he feels prepared and hopes to get FLiCKs back to normal by Winter Quarter.

“I just want FLiCKs to be stable,” he said. “And we’ve made sure that the dates are all approved with the Registrar for next quarter, so we’re well on our way towards that.”

On the agenda for stabilizing the program is resolving the broken sound system in Memorial Auditorium.

“It’s tough to find people experienced with the system — it’s been around so long,” Crichton said. “I’m not sure that anyone on campus knows how the whole system works.”

Adding to FLiCKs’ trouble was the issue of paying for inspections and repairs to the new system, as well as scheduling difficulties related to space and time needs for theatrical productions.

Weeks before his exit, though, Crichton added that FLiCKs will need more than just repairs: if it is to succeed in future quarters, he said, the program will need innovation as well.

“I believe that we should consider changing the traditional time for screenings from Sunday to Friday,” he said. “We did a big student survey, and we found a lot of support for the idea. If you move one or both of the Sunday showings to Friday, FLiCKs could be positioned as an option for people who don’t want to go to a frat party.”

Crichton also expressed hope for an improved integration of FLiCKs into the student body.

“I really want to have FLiCKs work with, rather than against, other film and arts groups on campus,” he said. “That’s something I really hope can happen for the program if we can get the Registrar to improve its scheduling process and get more cooperation.

“FLiCKs is important to the student body as a whole,” Crichton added. “I’d love to see the student community get involved and make it as good a program as it can be.”

Both Crichton and Evaldez understand the importance of keeping the 50-year tradition of FLiCKs alive and the work it will take to make this happen.

“It’s nerve-wracking to be thrown in there,” Evaldez said. “But whatever I can do to help, I’ll do it, and I’ll be excited. I love FLiCKs.”