Dawn Hudson, Executive Director of Film Independent

Dawn Hudson has been the Executive Director of Film Independent since 1991. Under her leadership, Film Independent has grown seven-fold, from a 900-member organization to its current membership of 6,300. Revenues have also increased an average of 25% per year.

Film Independent is dedicated to cultivating the careers of independent filmmakers, building the audience for independent films, and increasing diversity within the film industry.

During her tenure at Film Independent, the organization has created Filmmaker Labs for writers, directors, and producers; provided full-time, on-staff advisors for filmmakers; introduced free one-on-one consultations for filmmakers in the categories of post-production, festival strategy, line-producing, legal advice, and foreign sales; and established onsite facilities (casting rooms, editing suite, and production office) for filmmakers.

Additionally, Film Independent’s first film mentorship program, Project:Involve, was established in 1993. Project:Involve is a mentorship program for under-represented, emerging filmmakers and has provided jobs and industry access for over five hundred honorees for the past 14 years.

In 2001, Film Independent acquired the Los Angeles Film Festival, now the most attended film festival in Southern California, with attendance of more than 80,000. The Los Angeles Film Festival and the 22-year-old Spirit Awards remain Film Independent’s two signature events. The organization also produces 250 educational and screening events annually.

Prior to Film Independent, Hudson was Editor-in-chief of St. Louis magazine and a freelance magazine writer. She received her B.A. from Harvard University, and did graduate work in political science at the Institut des Etudes Politiques in Grenoble, France, and at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Hudson serves on the Advisory Board of the Latino Entertainment Media Institute.

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