Northwest Film Center Announces New Director

Amy Dotson will be filling the role vacated last year following the retirement of Bill Foster, who led the organization for almost four decades.

IMAGE: Courtesy of NW Film Center.
By Matthew Singer

The Northwest Film Center has named a new director.

Amy Dotson will be filling the role vacated last year following the retirement of Bill Foster, who led the organization for almost four decades.

Dotson, 43, previously served as the Deputy Director and Head of Programming for the 40-year-old, New York-based Independent Filmmaker Project, a nonprofit dedicated to providing resources to creative storytellers in a variety of mediums. There, she helped support projects from producers and directors  around the world, including Oscar-nominated Moonlight helmer Barry Jenkins.

She's also produced documentaries and feature films, written for magazines and worked as a pilates instructor and a welder, among myriad other gigs.

"I've always loved Portland, and looked for any reason to go in that director," says Dotson, who grew up in Oklahoma. "The more I read [about the NW Film Center], the more I started talking to folks, it just became clear this is something really special."

During Foster's tenure, Northwest Film Center gained a reputation for its carefully curated programming, events like the Portland International Film Festival and its support of regional filmmakers. Dotson says she hopes to continue that legacy.

Related: Five Highlights from the Portland International Film Festival

"He was big on building and sustaining community," she tells WW. "I want that to remain true."

Dotson starts in September.

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