STAFF OVERVIEW
- Michael Seiwerath - Executive Director
- Susie Purves - Managing Director
- Dave Hanagan - Studio Director
- Adam Sekuler - Programming Director
- Matt Cunningham - Technical Director
- Stan Shields - House Manager
- Peter Lucas - Associate Programming Director
- Liz Shepherd - Family Frames Film Curator; Director, Children's Film Festival Seattle
- Ryan Davis - Communications Director
- Micha Dudgeonwood - Volunteer Coordinator
- Wen Marcoux - Business Manager
Michael Seiwerath Executive Director
Michael Seiwerath has worked in independent film in Seattle for more than a decade, as both a curator and film producer. Since 1996 he has worked at Northwest Film Forum. As Executive Director, Seiwerath oversees all aspects of film production and exhibition. In this capacity, he has acted as Producer or Executive Producer on three feature-length films made through the nationally recognized Start-to-Finish program. Seiwerath has served on national panels and juries for the National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Capital, and the Slamdance Film Festival. In 2005, he was the recipient for the Stranger Genius Award for Film. He thinks his hometown of Tacoma is underrated, and enjoys taco trucks whenever possible.
Email Michael at: michael@nwfilmforum.org
Susan Purves Managing Director
Susie Purves has been traipsing the tidelands of visual art for over fifteen years. Along with curation, programming, and project development, her experience in small arts organizations (Center on Contemporary Art, Kirkland Arts Center, On the Boards, Seattle International Children's Festival) has resulted in a spectrum of pencil pushing skills.
Email Susie at: susie@nwfilmforum.org
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
Matt Cunningham 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 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
