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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Current Media Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 822971272
LA · NTEE A31
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Christiaan Mader, Executive Director / CEO ($54,583) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 66 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 36th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Christiaan Mader — reported title “Director”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

66 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 66 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,535 total compensation of comparable organizations → $183,171 $54,583
$30,37410th
$42,76125th
$66,379Median
$91,56775th
$118,01590th
$54,583This org · 36th
p10$30,374
p25$42,761
p50$66,379
p75$91,567
p90$118,015
$54,583

Comparable organizations

Each figure is Form 990 Part VII columns D + F (reportable pay plus other compensation and benefits; column F may include amounts from related organizations), normalized to LA cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.

OrganizationStateRevenueMatched titleComp
(reported)
Comp
(adjusted)
FY
Let It Ripple Inc CA$454,172 President $158,967 $124,661 2024
Okeefe Educational Media MS$452,634 Executive Director $72,800 $75,809 2023
Level Ground CA$451,528 Co-director $53,999 $42,346 2024
Phoenix Film Foundation AZ$450,731 Non-voting Exec. Director $60,740 $53,050 2024
Pretty Human Inc CO$464,234 President $184,500 $160,664 2024
Rocky Mountain Womens Film Institute CO$465,519 Executive Director $84,000 $71,263 2025
The Film Noir Foundation CA$466,738 President $18,450 $14,468 2024
Video Volunteers NY$469,821 Ceo, Director $40,835 $33,511 2024
Giant Screen Cinema Association NC$444,229 Executive Director $140,492 $131,833 2024
African Film Festivalinc NY$473,315 Director/executive Director $3,000 $2,535 2023
Transformative Culture Project Inc MA$436,564 Executive Director $82,503 $65,593 2025
Boston Jewish Film Inc MA$436,434 Executive Director $107,031 $87,346 2024
Docs In Progress Inc MD$434,981 Ceo $38,785 $32,930 2024
Dallas Film Society Inc TX$432,873 Chief Executive Officer & Board Member $33,333 $31,176 2023
Athol-orange Community Television Inc MA$423,553 Executive Director $79,940 $67,164 2023
Chicago Film Archives Nfp IL$491,724 Executive Dir. $77,913 $69,562 2024
Schoolyard Films Inc FL$420,840 Executive Director $120,000 $102,377 2024
Friends Of The Garden Theater MI$420,656 Executive Di $78,405 $73,494 2024
Three Generations Inc NY$413,975 Founder $67,409 $55,318 2024
Port Townsend Film Institute WA$412,527 Executive Dir. $83,500 $67,892 2024
Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival CA$410,985 Executive Director $166,001 $134,022 2023
Chicago International Social Change Film Festival IL$508,745 Executive Director $101,585 $90,697 2024
Vision Earth Society Inc FL$508,845 Director $50,000 $42,657 2024
Visart Inc NC$400,703 Executive Director $39,224 $36,806 2024
Indie Memphis TN$518,257 Executive Di $90,000 $85,914 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to LA cost of living and 2024 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.

Methodology

Comparable organizations were drawn from electronically filed IRS Form 990 returns and matched on sector (NTEE code), budget (a size-adaptive revenue band that tightens as the organization grows), and geography (same-state first, broadening only when too few peers qualify); every organization within the band forms the peer set. To compare fairly across regions and years, peer compensation is normalized to LA cost of living (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023) and to the subject's filing year (CPI-U). The figure benchmarked is Form 990 Part VII, Section A, columns D + F — reportable pay plus other compensation, benefits, and deferred amounts (column F may include amounts from related organizations) — with the chief executive matched by role. Related-organization amounts (column E) and institutional trustees are excluded. Full methodology: peerbasis.org/methodology.

Sample, role match & sensitivity

Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:

BasisSubject percentile
Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default36th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)30th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted38th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted36th

If the percentile moves materially across these definitions, the result is sensitive to methodology choices, and the board should weigh which basis best fits its facts.

Rebuttable presumption of reasonableness · 26 CFR 53.4958-6

Compensation paid by a tax-exempt organization is presumed reasonable — shifting the burden to the IRS — when three requirements are met. This report supplies the comparability data for the second. The board should record the following in its minutes concurrently with its decision:

Draft board minutes — executive compensation

  1. The compensation of the Executive Director / CEO (Christiaan Mader) was approved in advance by [the Board / Compensation Committee], composed of members with no conflict of interest with respect to the arrangement.
  2. Prior to its determination, the authorized body obtained and relied upon appropriate comparability data, namely the PeerBasis Compensation Comparability Determination dated June 9, 2026, comparing compensation against 66 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A31), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $54,583 is reasonable (approximately the 36th percentile of comparable organizations) and documented the basis for this determination concurrently, on [date], by a vote of [__ for / __ against].

Sources: IRS Form 990 e-file data (apps.irs.gov); IRS Business Master File (NTEE classification). Every figure traces to an original public filing — click any organization above to verify it on ProPublica. PeerBasis is a service of Prismind Analytics; its methodology is published, was commissioned for independent adversarial review, and discloses its own limitations. This report is comparability data to support a board's good-faith determination under IRC 4958; it is not legal or tax advice. Generated by PeerBasis on June 9, 2026.