Tonya Mantooth Elected to the San Diego Film Foundation Board of Directors

Tonya Mantooth has been elected to the San Diego Film Foundation Board of Directors and also named Executive and Artistic Director for the San Diego Film Festival according to Dale Strack, Chairman of the San Diego Film Foundation Board of Directors.

"Tonya is a driving force on the new leadership team that took over the San Diego Film Festival in 2011. As the Foundation initiatives have grown, the timing is right to not only expand the Board of Directors but also realign our management team to support that growth," said Strack.

According to Kevin Leap, President of the San Diego Film Foundation Board of Directors, "Tonya has earned an outstanding reputation for selecting the independent and studio films for the San Diego Film Festival and has also forged strong relationships with the Hollywood Film community."

The San Diego Film Foundation presents the annual San Diego Film Festival, the popular year round VIP Screening Series, as well as Educational programs targeted at high school students. Further, the Foundation currently supports three initiatives which have separate Advisory Boards the SDFF Military Initiative, the Native American Initiative and the SDFF Social Justice Initiative which is being developed in cooperation with filmmaker Thomas Morgan and Susan Sarandon.

"It's gratifying to see how we've been able to grow the Festival over the past four years. I'm excited to take on the role of Executive Director as well as Artistic Director because it will provide that connectivity between the year round events we present and the team that makes it happen," said Mantooth.

Tonya Mantooth is also the Founder and Executive Producer of Mantooth Studios, a production company based in San Diego, and an accomplished film producer and eight time Regional Emmy award winner with over 60 International Telly and ADDY awards. Under Mantooth Films, Tonya has Executive Produced 4 feature films, including Grave Secrets which became the pilot to the Nickelodeon Series.

The San Diego Film Festival will be September 28 - October 4 this year. Last year nearly 2000 independent films were submitted from 60 countries and every continent except Antarctica. Ultimately, just over 100 films were presented at the Festival including major studio releases.

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