Dallas Film Society and The Dallas International Film Festival announced today that Johnathan Brownlee was appointed CEO & President of the Dallas Film Society and Executive Director of the Dallas International Film Festival.
A transplant from Canada, Brownlee is an award-winning Canadian/American entertainment veteran with a diverse international body of work, spanning more than 20 years. Three of Brownlee’s feature films, “Occupy, Texas,” “Three Days in August” and “Decoding Annie Parker, ”have screened at DIFF. Brownlee created DIFF’s first screenwriting competition whose winner, “Three Days in August,” was produced in Texas, premiered at DIFF and was released nationwide at Studio Movie Grill.
“I’m extremely honored to lead DFS and looking forward to growing our education and community initiatives and leading DIFF’s transformation into a festival that reflects the incredible diversity of Dallas Fort Worth and the ever-changing landscape of entertainment,” said Johnathan, “There is nothing like watching a film in the theater, but we are also fortunate to be living in a time when television, streaming content and virtual reality are leaders in creative storytelling and our mandate at DFS is to present all of these experiences to our audience.”
Brownlee’s career highlights the symbiotic relationship between entertainment, art and commerce as he has created television series sponsored by Home Depot, HSBC, Ford, British Airways and Club Corp, to name a few. He has also produced content for The Salvation Army, Amnesty International, World Wildlife Fund, Toronto Humane Society, and KIPP Schools to support their fund raising campaigns. Brownlee has taught both creative and “the business of the business,” workshops at Harvard, MIT, Vancouver Film School, LA Film School, Brandeis University, Booker T. Washington High School for the Arts and served as the LA representative for the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.
Mark Denesuk, Chairman of DFS noted, “The board had a tall order for its new leader – expand our community impact and energize our development efforts, all while managing the city’s largest film festival. After a long process, Johnathan emerged as the clear choice and we are delighted that he is now leading the organization during this exciting new chapter of growth.”
