Elizabeth Peters

Elizabeth Peters received an MFA from the highly competitive film program at the University of Texas at Austin. She was one of the first students trained on Avid Media Composer and went on to work as an assistant editor on several feature films. While at UT-Austin, Peters served as undergraduate advisor and taught film and video production classes. While completing her thesis film, Peters was hired by Richard Linklater to manage the Austin Film Society and guide it into its second decade. Peters launched a year-round screening series, a membership program, and artist services programs including technical assistance and fiscal sponsorship. With Linklater, Peters created the Texas Filmmaker Production Fund (now the AFS Grants), an annual production award that over its first 20 years has awarded $2,000,000 to Texas filmmakers. While director of the Austin Film Society, Peters helped incubate several film organizations and festivals, volunteered during the launch of the SXSW Film Festival, and served as a panelist for numerous media arts grants for regional and national agencies. In 1999, Peters moved to New York City to direct the Association of Independent Film and Videomakers (AIVF) and publish the Independent Film & Video Monthly magazine. During her tenure, Peters helped modernize this national artist support organization at a time of burgeoning digital technologies and growth of independent filmmaking, and created programs aimed at strengthening regional media arts communities.