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Board & Staff

Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute

Ken Jacobson

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Ken Jacobson oversees all aspects of the festival including fundraising and sponsor relations, program development, management of staff and volunteers, budgeting, and producing the festival each fall.

Annalee Drain

FESTIVAL PRODUCER

Annalee Drain is the Festival Producer of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, stepping into the role this year after three years with the festival in other departments.

Deb Fuller

OFFICE MANAGER / MARKETING ASSISTANT

Deb Fuller is a native Houstonian who has called Arkansas home for more than seven years.

Annie Gerber

PROGRAMMING MANAGER

Annie Gerber oversees operations of the festival's programming team, manages the screening committee, and handles the film submissions process from intake through final selections.

Colleen Thurston

SENIOR PROGRAMMER

Colleen Thurston is a documentary filmmaker and curator from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Sean Volk

Sean Volk

SENIOR PROGRAMMER

Sean Volk is a film programmer and arts advocate based in Fargo, ND. He is a Senior Programmer at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.

Erin Williams-Weir

SENIOR PROGRAMMER

Erin Williams-Weir is a festival programmer, producer, and award-winning filmmaker from Canada.

Kyle Therral Wilson

COMMUNICATIONS, MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Kyle Therral Wilson is an Arkansas-native, Los Angeles-based consultant specializing in copywriting, digital marketing, publicity, and creative writing.

STAFF

PRODUCTION MANAGER
Ryan Mullins

DIRECTOR OF FILMMAKER & GUEST SERVICES
Emily Wells

HOSPITALITY ASSISTANT
Rachel Elisabeth Murr

EVENT COORDINATOR
Auja McKinney-Revels

EVENT PHOTOGRAPHER
Aaron Brewer

BOX OFFICE MANAGER
Missy Fowler

BOX OFFICE ASSISTANT
Karina Price

FORUM PRODUCER
Ashley York

FORUM CO-PRODUCER
Deb Fuller

GROUND TRANSPORTATION COORDINATOR
Brandy Heffington

TECH DIRECTOR
Travis Bird

PRINT TRAFFIC COORDINATOR
Justin Dean

PROJECTIONISTS
Dani Leal
Alice Lamb

THEATER MANAGER
Maryan Caldwell

THEATER MANAGER
Anabeth Meyer

ADDTIONAL STAFF

WEB DESIGN
SixtyOne Celsius

EVENTS BARTENDER
Holli Faulkner

PUBLICIST
John Wildman

VOLUNTEER COORDINATORS
Cherry Urch & Brandy Heffington

KEY ART, PROGRAM GUIDE, & MERCH GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Sonny Kay

FILMMAKER FORUM GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Sophia Skaff

ACCOUNTANT
Kim Farmer

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - OFFICERS

LATRICIA HILL-CHANDLER
BOARD CHAIR

CHRIS HO
CO-VICE BOARD CHAIR

KERRI JACKSON
CO-VICE BOARD CHAIR

JOHN HORNER
TREASURER

MATTHEW ROGERS
SECRETARY

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Justin Acri
Brad Burleson
Caryn Capotosto
Kai Coggin
Beau Durbin
Ra A. Hearne
Dr. Chris Jones
Carolyn Kennedy CTP
Gentry Kirby
André Robert Lee
Margaret McLarty
Jen Rainin
Clint Schaff
Ben Walters
Angie Wilson

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Annalee Drain

FESTIVAL PRODUCER

Annalee Drain is the Festival Producer of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, stepping into the role this year after three years with the festival in other departments.

She holds a BFA in Digital Filmmaking from the University of Central Arkansas. Annalee also serves as Programming Manager for the Persistence of Vision Film Festival, a role she has held for three years.

Based in Northwest Arkansas, she works full time as a freelance Camera Assistant on feature films and television, and recently made her debut as Director of Photography on the documentary feature Dirty Girl (Post-Production).

Deb Fuller

OFFICE MANAGER / MARKETING ASSISTANT / FILMMAKER FORUM CO-PRODUCER

Deb Fuller is a native Houstonian who has called Arkansas home for more than seven years. She has immersed herself in the Inception to Projection filmmaking program in Hot Springs over the past five years.

She has written and directed two short narratives, two documentary shorts, and participated in the production of numerous other projects. Her filmmaking centers on meaningful storytelling, often highlighting people, histories, and issues that deserve greater visibility.

This creative work deepens her connection to the community and amplifies voices that might otherwise go unheard.

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Erin Williams-Weir

SENIOR PROGRAMMER

Erin Williams-Weir is a festival programmer, producer, and award-winning filmmaker from Canada. She programs documentary features for the Chilliwack Independent Film Festival and has worked across international sales, acquisitions, and documentary production.

Her debut documentary, NEVER GET BUSTED!, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to receive multiple awards on the festival circuit, including the PBS Human Spirit Award.

Sean Volk

SENIOR PROGRAMMER

Sean Volk is a film programmer and arts advocate based in Fargo, ND. He is a Senior Programmer at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.

Additionally, Sean serves as a Lead Programmer at Mountainfilm and he is the Narrative Feature Programmer at the Woods Hole Film Festival. He has previously programmed for the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and the Nashville Film Festival.

Sean received his MA in Film Studies from Western University in London, Ontario in 2015; his scholarship explored representations of monstrosity in the films of Guillermo del Toro.

Colleen Thurston

SENIOR PROGRAMMER

Colleen Thurston is a documentary filmmaker and curator from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

With two decades experience in the festival world, Colleen has worked for festivals nationwide and specializes in non-fiction and Indigenous storytelling.

In addition to her work with HSDFF, she is the Project Producer for Native Lens, and a programmer for MountainFilm and the Tacoma Film Festival. Her first feature documentary Drowned Land screened at Hot Springs 2025, and is broadcasting on PBS in 2026.

Kyle Therral Wilson

COMMUNICATIONS, MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Kyle Therral Wilson is an Arkansas-native, Los Angeles-based consultant specializing in copywriting, digital marketing, publicity, and creative writing.

He has extensive experience in the publishing industry, most notably at Disney Publishing Worldwide, where he built email marketing campaigns and wrote interactive scripts for classic Disney characters.

Kyle also writes and produces for stage and screen; his short film SFH was an official selection at the 2024 Cinema Diverse Film Festival in Palm Springs, California.

Annie Gerber

PROGRAMMING MANAGER

Oversees daily operations and logistics including venue management, sponsor communications, transportation and housing.

Annie Gerber is a native Arkansan who has a Bachelor of Fine arts in music from Ouachita Baptist University but later switched her main focus to film and photography. Annie spent several years working as a Teaching Assistant at the prestigious photography program at the School of Cinematic and Performing Arts in both New York and Los Angeles. For the past 5 years she has maintained her position as the Director of Operations for the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.

Ken Jacobson

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Ken oversees all aspects of the festival including fundraising and sponsor relations, program development, management of staff and volunteers, budgeting, and producing the festival each fall.

Ken Jacobson was most recently Senior Programmer, Documentary Films at the Sonoma International Film Festival. He has served as Documentary Film Programmer at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (since 2017) and at the DocLands Documentary Film Festival (since 2019). He is also co-creator/co-host (with Michael Merrill) of the podcast “Top-Docs: Award-Winning Documentary Filmmakers” with presenting sponsor Netflix.

Previously, Jacobson was a senior member of the programming team at the American Film Institute (2018-2021) and Director of Educational Programs and Strategic Partnerships at the International Documentary Association (2013 – 2016). From 2008- 2013, he was Documentary Programmer and Programming/Education Outreach Coordinator at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. He has served on numerous festival juries and as a grant reviewer for the NEA, NEH, Sundance Institute, and IDA Enterprise Fund.