Dave Hanagan Studio Director

As the studio director, Dave Hanagan manages the education programs, filmmaking equipment facilities and artist access programs. He also serves as the festival director for the Local Sightings Film Festival. Before moving to Seattle, he studied graphic design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dave has made numerous short films, his latest, Circadia Sees the Moon, premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival and was completed with support from 4Culture, Artist Trust, and the Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs. Since 1997, he has worked as a cinematographer, gaffer, editor and producer on over 50 independent, artistic media projects including Guy Maddin's Brand Upon the Brain!, Webster Crowell's Borrowing Time, and Matt Wilkin's Buffalo Bill's Defunct.

Email Dave at: dave@nwfilmforum.org

Adam Sekuler Program Director

Adam Sekuler comes to Northwest Film Forum with 5 years of film programming experience. Before arriving in Seattle he was programmer for the nation's first and only dedicated non-fiction theatre, The Bell Auditorium. He is co-founder of Search and Rescue, an ongoing effort to present and preserve discarded archives of 16mm films. He also programmed for the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival and Sound Unseen. In his early years he booked music for the Whole Music Club, Minneapolis' only all ages venue. During his spare time, Adam makes short films that have screened at festivals and museums. You can find him scheming about bus cabarets and penciling in words on crossword puzzles on the weekends.

Email Adam at: adams@nwfilmforum.org

Nora Weideman Technical Director

In the summer of 2002, as a Capitol Hill resident trying to get in touch with her inner artist, she signed up for volunteering at the Little Theatre. Three months later she got a call that a spot had opened as Friday late night concessionaire at the Grand Illusion. After 6 months of the graveyard box office shift, Patrick Matthess, resident projectionist, asked her if she was interested in learning how to project 35mm films. She took over as Friday latenight projectionist shortly thereafter as well as on Wednesday nights and whenever somebody needed a sub. In 2004 she started to help out at the office in the Little Theater and spent her summer working on the construction side of the new location on 12th Avenue. Once it opened she also volunteered her time projecting at night. As Technical Director, Nora oversees projection, print traffic, volunteer staffing, venue management, equipment maintenance and housekeeping.

Email Nora at: nora@nwfilmforum.org

Matt Cunningham Assistant Technical Director

Matt Cunningham began working for the Northwest Film Forum as a projectionist at the Grand Illusion in November of 1998. Since then he has remained a steadfast figure in the Film Forum's projection booths, always striving to make sure the audience gets the best show in Seattle. Matt has been a projectionist for over thirteen years and has manned the equipment in a mind-boggling variety of booths throughout the Seattle area. As Assistant Technical Director and Manager of Cinema Rentals, Matt gets to spend quality time in the booth, as well as interact with real people! Matt smokes too much and enjoys fixing broken things.

Email Matt at: matt@nwfilmforum.org

Peter Lucas Associate Program Director

Peter has worked with Northwest Film Forum for the past 6 years to present music films, documentaries, and special series exploring the intersections of art, design, and architecture with moving image media. He has also contributed programming for the Seattle International Film Festival and Sound Unseen Film and Music Festival, and has organized independent art exhibits, film screenings, and collaborative multimedia events in Austin, New York, and Seattle.

Email Peter at: peter@nwfilmforum.org

Liz Shepherd Children's Film Curator; Director, Cinema K: Children's Film Festival Seattle

Liz Shepherd is the former director of the Chicago International Children's Film Festival. She has served on the juries of the Seoul International Family Film Festival, the Moscow International Festival of Films for Children and Young People, India's International Film Festival for Children and Young People, and the Cairo International Film Festival for Children. She was also Secretary/Treasurer of the International Centre of Films for Children and Young People, based in Montreal, Canada. Since moving to Vashon Island in 1997, she has worked as director of Seattle's Center on Contemporary Art (1997-1999) and curated special children's film programs and workshops in Seattle for the Nordic Heritage Museum, the Seattle Asian Art Museum, and the Children's Museum. She is most importantly the mother of twins Ellie and Isaac, first-graders who are already well on their way to becoming discerning cinephiles.

Email Liz at: liz@nwfilmforum.org

Ryan Davis Communications Director

Ryan has been active in the Seattle film community since she arrived in the Northwest. She had been involved with Northwest Film Forum as an intern, projectionist, and contributing filmmaker before taking the reins of Communications Director. Ryan is a native of New York State by way of Brunswick, Maine, but has called Seattle home since 2004.

Email Ryan at: ryan@nwfilmforum.org

Micha DudgeonwoodVolunteer Coordinator

Micha has explored a variety of professions ranging from custom hand-painted tile artist and hairstylist to early childhood educator/administrator and food industry Chameleon extraordinaire. She's been actively involved in the local Seattle community for nearly 2 decades including event planning, several of her own exhibitions, and managing a variety of volunteer programs. She made her way as a volunteer to NWFF in the fall of 2006 in her continued exploration of a lifelong love for film and dedication to the arts.

Email Micha at: volunteer@nwfilmforum.org

Voleak Sip Bookkeeper

Voleak Sip is a native of Seattle and has been involved with the non-profit community since 1997.  She has utilized her administrative skills as a participant in the Cambodian Girls Group of Harborview Medical Center, volunteer for Children's Hospital, teaching assistant and intern at the Woodland Park Zoo, and programming intern for Seattle Youth Involvement Network.  In the spring of 2003 she found the Northwest Film Forum and signed up to become an office volunteer.  She moved through the different realms of the organization (and provided weekly pastry delivery) to eventually be appointed as the official bookkeeper in March 2006.  When Voleak grows up, she hopes to model herself after Angelina Jolie and raise at least one Cambodian child.

Email Voleak at: voleak@nwfilmforum.org