Colin Stanfield is the Executive Director of the Nantucket Film Festival and brings nearly twenty years of experience to the job.
Formerly he was the Manager of Operations at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival (1992-1996), Head of International Programs at IFP (1999-2005) and Festival Producer for SilverDocs, AFI Discovery International Documentary Festival (2005).
In 2005 Colin opened the New York office of Amérique Film, connecting the Canadian production company with his large base of contacts within the US independent film community to foster new creative collaborations, and positioning Amérique’s Canadian projects to a larger audience. In 2007 he co-produced the Amok Kollek directed feature film RESTLESS, which had its world premier in Competition at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival.
Having spent many years as an executive at IFP — the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers, as well as the premier advocate for them — Colin has a strong conviction about the necessity of support organizations’ work both in nurturing filmmakers’ creative capacity and developing the business/administrative skills necessary to sustain a career. He has engaged in filmmaker development programs for many years through lab participation, international film festival support services, teaching, script analysis, and mission organizing. As an expansion of his work with the Dubai International Film Festival, Colin is creating a weeklong series of “How To” sessions focusing on filmmaking fundamentals for participants of the 2011 event.
Colin studied Jazz saxophone in Canada (BA Mus. 1992) and with New School professor George Garzone in New York (1999-2000). He is an avid windsurfer, tennis player, and sailor. He and his wife Christina and their three-year old son Porter split their time between Dubai and Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.