After 10 years leading the organization, Lance McDaniel will step down as Executive Director of deadCenter Film at the conclusion of the 20th annual deadCenter Film Festival in June 2020. The festival will be held in downtown Oklahoma City from June 11-14, 2020. 

“Running deadCenter has been one of the greatest joys and most interesting challenges of my life,” said McDaniel. “I look forward to my next big adventure. And, I’m excited to see how deadCenter grows under new leadership.”  

Growth has been key to deadCenter’s success during McDaniel’s ten-year tenure: sponsorships have increased 300%, film submissions 500%, and festival attendance has grown from 10,000 to 35,000 people. 

McDaniel’s legacy will also include the successful programs he has implemented, including deadCenter University for high school students, the Oklahoma Film Icon panel series, techCenter conference, deadCenter Virtual Cinema, deadCenter Distribution Forum, and a statewide education program that has reached 25,000 students since its inception. In 2018, deadCenter was selected as Oklahoma’s Outstanding Arts & Cultural Nonprofit by the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits.

McDaniel is also an Emmy nominated filmmaker who has worked on 21 feature films, including Oscar winner Million Dollar Baby. Eleven of his features, shorts, documentaries, and virtual reality films have screened at deadCenter since 2006. 

To honor McDaniel’s decade of service, deadCenter Film is setting up an endowment in his name with the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. 

In accordance with best practices, deadCenter is opening the Executive Director position to all interested applicants. Anyone interested in applying should email a resume and cover letter to careers@deadcenterfilm.org by 5:00 p.m. on January 10, 2020.

“We are a statewide nonprofit that serves thousands of constituents across Oklahoma,” said Alyx Picard Davis, deadCenter’s Director of Operations. “If there are awesome people out there that can help us achieve our vision, we want to meet them and bring them into the deadCenter family.”