Images Cinema Hires New Executive Director
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Images Cinema has hired a veteran in the field of film exhibitions and programming as the organization's new executive director.
Doug Jones was most recently associate director of programming at the Los Angeles Film Festival and Film Independent. The festival showcases the best of American and international cinema to an audience of more than 92,000 filmgoers.
"We're thrilled to welcome Doug to Images Cinema," said John Strachan, chairman of Images Cinema's board of directors. "We're confident that he will be a thoughtful, passionate leader on behalf of both the organization and the community as a whole. This leadership is especially inspiring as we approach the theater's 100-year anniversary."
Jones brings two decades of experience working for film festivals and nonprofit arts organizations. He also was a film and video programmer at the San Francisco International Film Festival and San Francisco Film Society, and program director of the Oak Street Cinema in Minneapolis, where was the main curator, as well as an integral part of theater operations and management.
A founding member of the nominations committee for the Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking and currently an associate programmer for the Philadelphia Film Festival, Jones has also written on film and film festivals for print and online publications like Indiewire, Twitch and Film Comment.
"I'm honored to be joining the Images team," said Jones. "I look forward to exploring new ideas and initiatives for Images' future, while also maintaining the organization's position as the premier venue for independent and international cinema in the Berkshires."
Jones follows the leadership of Sandra Thomas, who announced in March that she planned to resign after 12 years as the theater's executive director. During her tenure, Thomas oversaw the theater's renovation, the conversion to digital projection and the addition of the marquee on Spring Street. Under Thomas' leadership, Images Cinema's budget was stabilized, membership reached an all-time high, and programming diversified.
For his part, Jones, who will move to Williamstown with his wife — a Massachusetts native — and their elementary school-aged son, is thrilled to take Images Cinema to the next level.
"When I was 14, I took my first job in film, working behind the concession stand at a neighborhood movie theater," Jones said. "Since then, I've never wavered in my belief in the power and pleasure of film. I look forward to sharing my passion and knowledge with Images Cinema and with the entire community of the Northern Berkshires."
Jones will begin in September.
