New York, NY - National Video Resources (NVR) named Eileen Newman as deputy director, serving as the organization’s chief programmatic and operating manager, overseeing all NVR programs, including the Media Arts Fellowships, which award approximately $800,000 annually to media artists. Newman comes to NVR from the National Board of Review in New York, where she served as executive director since 2005. Newman will join NVR effective September 14.

“We are delighted that Eileen has agreed to join us,” said Brian Newman (no relation), executive director of NVR. “Eileen has demonstrated exceptional dedication to the independent media arts, understands the needs of the field and brings considerable experience in nonprofit administration. Eileen will help NVR develop new programs to support the creation and dissemination of independent media. Her background supporting filmmakers fits perfectly with NVR’s mission to support their endeavors.”

Eileen began her career in the media arts by introducing teenagers to the work of independent filmmakers through a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). She has worked in the fields of education and media, as a teacher and administrator in public schools and the Department of Education and an instructor at Adelphi University. For six years she was the Executive Director of Film/Video Arts, and then at the IFP (Independent Feature Project) as Senior Director of Programming. Eileen has served on many funding panels including the Jerome Foundation and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. In addition she has served on the boards of New York Women in Film & Television, the New York Production Alliance and is currently the president of the board of Manhattan Neighborhood Network.

Eileen will work closely with Brian Newman and Lucila Moctezuma, recently named as Director of the Media Arts Fellowships, in celebrating the 20^th Anniversary of the Media Arts Fellowships program in 2007. The Fellowships have distributed over $12.5 million to 320 artists in the past twenty years. She will also oversee NVR’s public programs and efforts to assist filmmakers with the dissemination of their films to broader audiences. NVR will launch the Looking At: Jazz program, a collection of films about Jazz, at the New York Film Festival on October 11, 2006. This series will then tour to 50 cities in the US. NVR also plans to launch The Film Club, a tour of undistributed films to as many as fifty cities, coupled with their simultaneous DVD and online release. “NVR plans to launch several new programs in the coming months to help filmmakers and new media artists to reach larger audiences, especially through new platforms. Eileen will help finalize these plans and launch these programs” said Brian Newman.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to work with Brian and his wonderful staff at NVR. The world of independent media arts is changing daily and I think that NVR is an organization taking on a leadership role providing opportunities for artists in this changing landscape. Working with artists has always been very exciting for me and I look forward to this adventure.” said Eileen Newman.

NVR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1990 by the Rockefeller Foundation. The organization fosters independent artistic expression by supporting the creation, dissemination and public awareness of independent media in all forms. The cornerstone of its support for artists is the Media Arts Fellowships, which support the creation of new work that brings innovation to the media arts. NVR receives major funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and NYSCA. Further information about NVR can be found at www.nvr.org.