Seattle, WA – July 7, 2014 – Washington Filmworks (WF) is pleased to announce that James Keblas and Lance Rosen have been appointed as Co-Chairs of the organization’s Advocacy Committee. The Advocacy Committee is primarily responsible for advising the Board of Directors on legislative strategy and will work on important issues such as relationship building with elected officials and the status of funding for the production incentive program.

The agenda for the Advocacy Committee will be presented at two Town Hall events scheduled in Seattle and Spokane in July.  At these events Keblas, Rosen and Executive Director Amy Lillard will outline the action items for the committee over the next six months and talk specifically about how the film industry can be involved.  Lillard will also present the results for the Second Annual Jobs and Vendor Survey.

The following is the information for the Town Hall events:

Town Hall Event – Seattle
Saturday, July 26, 2014 from 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
SIFF Film Center on the Seattle Center Campus
305 Harrison Street, Seattle

Town Hall Event – Spokane
Sunday, July 27, 2014 from 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Red Lion Hotel at the Park
303 West North River Drive, Spokane

“James and Lance have a long history of leadership in the film industry and both have been key partners in helping to make WF a success. They are a great addition to our efforts to grow the film incentive program in Washington State. We all look forward to working with them,” said Don Jensen Chair of the Board of Washington Filmworks.

About James Keblas

James Keblas was recently named President of Creature, an advertising and design agency in Seattle and London where he champions the agency’s approach to solving problems with creativity. He is a celebrated national economic development leader in the areas of arts and entertainment and represents creativity, commerce and culture in a manner that gets him up early in the morning and staying out late at night.  Before Creature, James served for 9 years as the City of Seattle’s Director for the Office of Film + Music driving the city’s creative economy.  He was co-founder and Executive Director of The Vera Project, a nationally recognized nonprofit music and arts center run by-and for-youth in Seattle.  James is a punk rocker, an American Marshall Fellow and was named one of 50 most influential people in Seattle.  He is married to an artist and musician and they have identical twin boys.

About Lance Rosen

Lance Rosen has been an entertainment lawyer in Seattle since 1992, after service as Director of Business & Legal Affairs for The Disney Channel. Rosen has been lead production counsel on dozens of Northwest films and has been otherwise involved with dozens more. Along with Brian Lewis, his partner at the boutique entertainment/media law firm Rosen Lewis PLLC, Rosen has counseled creative artists and creative businesses in all media.  Rosen was an integral part of the team in that led the way to the creation of Washington Filmworks in 2006.

About Washington Filmworks

Washington Filmworks’ is the non-profit 501 (c)(6) organization that manages the state film and production incentive programs.  Its mission is to create economic development opportunities by building and enhancing the competitiveness, profile and sustainability of Washington’s film industry.  We do this by creating possibilities for local and national filmmakers, offering comprehensive production support as well as financial incentives.

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