Indie Media Arts South & Indie Media Arts Group

Organizing Committee Member, Indie Media Arts South (2021 – Present)
Advisory Committee Member, Indie Media Arts Group (2024)

Indie Media Arts South (IMAS) is a regional collective of arts organizations, film festivals, and media makers working to strengthen the independent media sector across the greater South, with a focus on equity and sustainability. IMAS facilitates unprecedented community building, artist development, and visibility for independent media makers in the South. The group operates as an invaluable communications network offering direct access to stakeholders at all levels across and beyond the region. IMAS is open to all and seeks a diverse regional membership invested in building community-driven systems of support for independent media makers. IMAS presently has organizational and individual members in all nine South Arts states and beyond.

IMAS is a regional component of the national Independent Film & Media Arts Field-Building Initiative co-seeded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Sundance Institute at the dawn of the pandemic. Since 2020, South Arts has served as the fiscal agent for Indie Media Arts South and provided staff support towards the central organizing committee. Over FY23 and FY24, South Arts has provided $15,000 total to sustain the collective operationally as they pursue and diversify sources of funding.

In November 2022, South Arts and IMAS partnered with the National Endowment for the Arts and New Orleans Film Festival to release the Independent Film and Media Field Briefing that speaks to the successes of this initiative, the importance of indie filmmakers in a consolidated media landscape, and the needs of the growing field. Watch the packed-out panel session facilitated by NEA Media Arts Director Jax Deluca and featuring Sundance Institute staff, Indie Media Arts South members, and South Arts Director of Media Arts Jordan Young.