Indie Memphis announced March 4 that Knox Shelton will step in as new executive director for the film organization.
Shelton, who has been executive director of Literacy Mid-South since 2016, will take over the lead role at Indie Memphis from Ryan Watt. Watt has been in the job since 2015 and said in August that he would leave to return to “my roots as an entrepreneur.”
Brett Robbs, Indie Memphis board president, announced the changes.
Shelton, who graduated from Hendrix College in Arkansas, worked at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Memphis before taking over at Literacy Mid-South.
“I look forward to combining years of working alongside the Memphis community with my passion for film as we continue to anchor Memphis as a thriving artistic environment for film and production,” Shelton said in a release from Indie Memphis.
The 23rd annual Indie Memphis Film Festival was held in October, adapting to the COVID environment by using outdoor venues such as Malco Summer Drive-In and Shelby Farms as screening sites. In January Indie Memphis was chosen by Sundance Film Festival to serve as a satellite for that venerated movie event, and the films selected by Sundance Institute were shown at the Summer Drive-In.