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Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute

How to Support

Thank you for your interest in supporting our organization!

It truly does “take a village” to produce such a major event year after year and your support makes possible our continued growth and success.

Consider joining the HSDFF family and associate your brand with North America’s longest running documentary film festival. We have a variety of sponsorship packages that can be customized and enable you to get involved at any level.

PRESENTING (EXCLUSIVE)

$50,000

  • Logo/Name featured in first position on the following assets:
    • festival-related press releases (as 'Presented by')
    • all print and digital promotions/advertising
    • sponsor reel before each film screening
    • official festival website (HSDFI.org), sponsor page in printed program guide, and official festival passes
  • Speaking opportunity before Opening and/or Closing Night film
  • Inside front and back cover ad in festival program
  • Opportunity to play 20-second pre-roll video before all festival films
  • Opportunity to display marketing materials at festival events
  • Access to VIP Lounge
  • 20 Complimentary VIP Sponsor Passes

PREMIERE (EXCLUSIVE)

$40,000

  • Logo/Name featured in second position on the following assets:
    • on all festival promotional materials and HSDFF communications
    • all print and digital promotions/advertising
    • general festival press releases ɒ featured exclusively alongside HSDFI logo in Forum press releases
    • sponsor reel before each film screening
    • official festival website (HSDFI.org) and on sponsor page in printed program guide
  • Logo/name to appear exclusively on Forum landing page and schedule page at HSDFI.org
  • Full page ad in festival program in prime location.
  • Logo/name to appear in first position in all Filmmaker Forum printed material
  • Logo/name to appear on specially created Filmmaker Forum stepȧandȧrepeat banner
  • Logo/name to appear on Filmmaker Forum tote bags
  • Opportunity to play 20-second preȧroll video before all festival films
  • Opportunity for sponsor to display marketing materials at festival events
  • Opportunity to place promotional materials in all festival and filmmaker swag bags
  • 16 complimentary VIP Sponsor Passes
  • Access to VIP lounge

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SPONSOR

$30,000

  • Logo/Name featured in fourth position on the following assets:
    • all print and digital promotions/advertising
    • sponsor reel before each film screening
    • official festival website (HSDFI.org) and on sponsor page in printed program guide
  • Full page ad in festival program
  • Opportunity to play 20-second preȧroll video before gala film screenings (Opening Night, Centerpiece, Closing Night screenings)
  • Opportunity to display marketing materials at festival events
  • Opportunity to place promotional materials in all festival and filmmaker swag bags
  • 14 complimentary VIP Sponsor passes
  • Access to VIP lounge

PRODUCER SPONSOR

$20,000

  • Logo/Name featured in fifth position on the following assets:
    • all festival digital and print promotional materials
    • sponsor reel before film screenings
    • official festival website (HSDFI.org) and on sponsor page in printed program guide
  • Half page ad in festival program
  • Opportunity to place promotional materials in all festival and filmmaker swag bags
  • 12 complimentary VIP sponsor passes
  • Access to VIP Lounge

DIRECTOR SPONSOR

$10,000

  • Logo/Name featured prominently on the following assets:
    • all festival digital and print promotional materials
    • sponsor reel before film screenings
    • official festival website (HSDFI.org) and on sponsor page in printed program guide
  • Half page ad in festival program
  • Opportunity to place promotional materials in all festival and filmmaker swag bags
  • 10 complimentary VIP sponsor passes
  • Access to VIP lounge

EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH PROGRAMS

$7,500

  • Logo/Name featured on the following assets:
    • sponsor reel before each film screening
    • official festival website (HSDFI.org) and on sponsor page in printed program guide
    • festival program adjacent to all Educational Program listings
  • Opportunity to place marketing materials at event
  • Opportunity to welcome guests and give remarks at all Educational Program events
  • Half page ad in festival program
  • Opportunity to play up to 20-second pre-roll video before sponsored screening
  • Access to VIP lounge
  • Now includes 8 VIP passes!
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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.