AFS to Honor Evan Smith at A Toast to Texas Film, March 10, 2022

Media Contact:
Brady Dyer, Communications Manager
brady@austinfilm.org

Austin Film Society To Honor Evan Smith, Co-Founder of Texas Hall of Fame and Former AFS Board Member at A Toast To Texas Film
March 10, 2022

February 22, 2022— AFS announces that Evan Smith, CEO and founder of The Texas Tribune and longtime AFS supporter, will be honored at a special edition of the Texas Film Awards—A Toast to Texas Film—on March 10, 2022 at Troublemaker Studios. He will be recognized for his years of service, dedication, and leadership towards AFS’s mission of empowering the community to make, watch, and love film and creative media.

Along with Louis Black, Smith co-founded the Texas Film Hall of Fame in 2001. Smith served on the AFS Board of Directors from 2000 – 2009 including two years as President of the Board of Directors, during which time he helped raise over $4 million for Texas film.

“Evan got what AFS was doing for film and filmmakers and like the force of nature he is, he pushed the organization into raising our profile and becoming unstoppable,” said AFS Founder Richard Linklater. “His impact on journalism is immense and he brings an undeniable passion for sparking the civic discourse around politics and culture. We’ve been incredibly fortunate to have his vision and leadership by our side all of these years.”

“Evan knew where the momentum was in the community, and how to get Austin’s power brokers excited about our mission,” said CEO Rebecca Campbell. “That was the leadership we needed at the time, so we could grow into the important role we play in supporting all aspects of the Texas film ecosystem–industry, culture and artists.”

Smith has held two jobs over the last 30 years, editor of Texas Monthly and CEO of The Texas Tribune—a nonprofit, nonpartisan, digital public media organization—during which time he’s been decorated with numerous awards and accolades. During Smith’s tenure as editor, Texas Monthly was awarded the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice and nominated for 16 National Magazine Awards, the magazine industry’s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. Since its launch in 2009, The Tribune has won international acclaim and numerous honors, including a Peabody Award, sixteen national Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association and three general excellence awards from the Online News Association. Smith is also the host of “Overheard with Evan Smith,” a weekly half-hour interview program that airs on PBS stations around the country.

This year’s Texas Film Awards has been reimagined due to the ever-changing landscape of 2022 and on March 10 AFS will honor Evan Smith at a Toast to Texas Film. This special evening will feature a more intimate dinner party at Troublemaker Studios with a focus upon celebrating our homegrown film industry and announcing AFS’s upcoming initiatives. Special guests for the evening include Elizabeth Avellan, Mehcad Brooks, Richard Linklater, Glen Powell, Robert Rodriguez, and more.

For more information on a Toast to Texas Film, please contact AFS Development Manager Taylor Whritner at taylor@austinfilm.org.

About Evan Smith
Evan Smith is the CEO and co-founder of The Texas Tribune, a pioneering nonprofit, nonpartisan digital news organization whose deep coverage of Texas politics and public policy can be found at its website, texastribune.org, and in newspapers and on TV and radio stations across the state. Since its launch in 2009, the Tribune has won international acclaim and numerous honors, including a Peabody Award and 23 national Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association. Evan previously spent nearly eighteen years at Texas Monthly, including eight years as the magazine’s editor and a year as its president. On his watch Texas Monthly was nominated for 16 National Magazine Awards, the magazine industry’s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, and twice was awarded the National Magazine Award for General Excellence. Since 2003, he has been the host of a weekly half-hour interview program, currently called “Overheard with Evan Smith,” that airs on PBS stations around the country — featuring guests ranging from Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush to David Lynch, Sonya Sotomayor, Kim Gordon, Margaret Atwood, Elie Weisel and Andy Roddick. A dedicated community volunteer, Evan has served on the boards of the Public Broadcasting System, Austin PBS, St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, Trinity Episcopal School, Waterloo Greenway, the Austin Community Foundation, the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Austin Film Society. A recovering New Yorker, he’s a graduate of Hamilton College and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, which inducted him into its Hall of Achievement in 2006.

About the Austin Film Society
Founded in 1985 by filmmaker Richard Linklater, AFS creates life-changing opportunities for filmmakers, catalyzes Austin and Texas as a creative hub, and brings the community together around great film. AFS is committed to racial equity and inclusion, with an objective to deliver programs that actively dismantle the structural racism, sexism and other bias in the screen industries. AFS supports filmmakers from all backgrounds towards career leaps, encouraging exceptional artistic projects with grants and support services. AFS operates Austin Studios, a 20-acre production facility, to attract and grow the creative media ecosystem. Austin Public, a space for our city’s diverse mediamakers to train and collaborate, provides many points of access to filmmaking and film careers. The AFS Cinema is an ambitiously programmed repertory and first run arthouse with broad community engagement. By hosting premieres, local and international industry events, and the Texas Film Awards, AFS shines the national spotlight on Texas filmmakers while connecting Austin and Texas to the wider film community. AFS is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. More at austinfilm.org

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