Our Team
50 years COMBINED nonprofit GOVERNANCE experience
THOMAS ETHAN HARRIS
Thomas Ethan Harris is a graduate of the University of Southern California, School of Cinema-Television where he studied Screenwriting and Theory and Criticism.
Thomas Harris is the Co-Founder of the highly regarded Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF) where he served as Director of Programming from 1995-2005 during which time the festival was regularly ranked as the "No. 2 Best Overall Film Festival" in the United States by Variety/Hollywood Reporter..
Mr. Harris is credited with having introduced to the film world such acclaimed contemporary filmmakers as Academy Award Nominee / 2014 Cannes Film Festival "Best Director" Recipient Bennett Miller (FOXCATCHER, CAPOTE, MONEYBALL); New York Film Critics Circle Prize Winner, David Gordon Green (ALL THE REAL GIRLS, GEORGE WASHINGTON); Academy Award Winner, Dustin Lance Black (MILK); Academy Award Nominee Derek Cianfrance (BLUE VALENTINE, THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES); Charles Wurmfeld (KISSING JESSICA STEIN); Eliza Hittman (NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS; BEACH RATS, Sundance 2017 "Best Director"); Producer/Director Nisha Ganatra (LATE NIGHT, TV's Emmy-Winning series Transparent); Academy Award Winner Aaron Schneider (GET LOW, GREYHOUND); Thomas Bezucha (THE FAMILY STONE, BIG EDEN); and the filmmakers of the original BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999). As of 2026, Mr. Harris has also participated in the creation of 10 short films that have gone on to receive an Academy Award Nomination for "Best Short Film", two of which emerged victorious as Official Oscar Winners.
Mr. Harris served as the Director Of Programming to both the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival (2005-6) and the Palm Springs Festival of Native Film and Culture (2005-10). He also helped to found and served as Director of Programmer/Programming Consultant to the International Emerging Talent Film Festival in Monte Carlo, Monaco (2007-2008), Cinema Diverse in Palm Springs, CA (2008-2012) and the “Best Of AFI Fest Program”.
Since 2003, Mr. Harris has managed his own successful Los Angeles-based consulting business which works closely with a variety of film artists and producers from all over the United States and the international film community in all aspects of screenwriting, film direction, visual and aural design and film festival planning.
In 2008 through 2019, Harris reunited with the acclaimed 501(c)3 film non-profit The American Cinematheque by producing and instructing at his own acclaimed Film Seminar series at the Egyptian and Aero Theatres in Los Angeles where he led inspiring discussions of new approaches to narrative, visual and aural design.
Between 2016-2022, Thomas Ethan Harris was a part of the Faculty of the Film School at Chapman University (a Top 5 North American Film School) where he taught courses on film aesthetics and screenwriting. Mr. Harris is also a regular guest lecturer of Visual Design in Cinema at NYU/Tisch School Of The Arts, Loyola-Marymount (LMU) and the American Film Institute (AFI).
Currently, Thomas finds himself authoring a book on a new cinematic aesthetic school he has termed Naturalist Cinema. Thomas' book will take both a historic and contemporary look at the principal film auteurs and practitioners whose narrative and aesthetic approaches correspond with both the literary and fine art movement called Naturalism (1860s - 1910s). Thomas' book includes intricate studies into the accomplishments of filmmakers like Robert Altman, Michelanglo Antonioni, John Cassavetes, Sofia Coppola, the Dardenne Brothers, Vittorio DeSica, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Mike Leigh, Richard Linklater, Terrence Malick, Lucretia Martel, Yasujiro Ozu, Satyajit Ray, Kelly Reichardt, Jean Renior and Edward Yang.
FOUNDER
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
AMANDA SWEIKOW
Amanda Sweikow is a cinema-maker, nonprofit leader, curator, and community builder whose work has long centered on supporting filmmakers, cultivating artistic voices, and strengthening the culture around independent cinema.
Amanda graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Cinema from San Francisco State University before relocating to Los Angeles, where she began as an intern with Filmmakers Alliance, a nonprofit filmmaking collective dedicated to empowering independent filmmakers. She eventually rose to Vice President and later Executive Director, overseeing operations, programming, partnerships, communications, and filmmaker initiatives.
Throughout her years with Filmmakers Alliance, Amanda worked directly with hundreds of filmmakers, facilitating fiscal sponsorship, production services, writers labs, workshops, seminars, screenings, networking events, and grant programs. She served as head of selection committees for filmmaking grants and competitions and supported selected projects through production, including award-winning films such as Dada, Melancholy Baby, Resonance, and HeadBang. She also produced the organization’s annual VisionFest, which honored independent filmmakers and artists including Laura Dern, David O. Russell, Kevin Smith, Ted Hope, Christine Vachon, and Nicolas Winding Refn.
Amanda expanded her industry experience as a Digital Intermediate Producer at Light Iron Digital and Production Coordinator at HotHouse Productions before returning to nonprofit leadership. Across these roles, she became increasingly interested in a larger question: What kind of culture and infrastructure do artists need to make cinema that is personal, challenging, distinctive, and deeply human?
That question is at the heart of I Am Cinema.
Drawing on decades of experience working alongside filmmakers, Amanda and Thomas created I Am Cinema around the belief that cinema is more than an industry or commodity. It is a human art form whose future depends on a culture that values personal vision, artistic intention, creative risk, craft, and meaningful connection. I Am Cinema seeks to build the community, education, mentorship, resources, and cultural conversation that allow artists to develop their voices and audiences to engage more deeply with their work.
Amanda also writes Talk Cinema, Save Cinema, a Substack newsletter exploring cinema, filmmaking, and the systems shaping what gets made and seen. She is a curator for FilmStack Daily Digest and editor of FilmStack Deep Dive. An award-winning writer, director, and producer, her films have screened at festivals nationwide, including the Cleveland International Film Festival and Beaufort International Film Festival. She is currently developing her feature film Unclaimed.
Across all of her work is the belief that drives I Am Cinema: artists need spaces to develop their voices, take creative risks, find community, and make work that matters, while audiences need more opportunities to discover and connect with cinema that sees them as more than consumers.