Riley Keough and Focus vice chairman Jason Cassidy have joined the board of The Gotham Film & Media Institute, the group behind the Gotham Awards.
The pair join existing board members Nancy Abraham, Anthony Bregman, Jeb Brody, Gerry Byrne, Alina Cho, Dan Crown, Mark D’Arcy (director emeritus), Amy Emmerich, Philipp Engelhorn, Kai Falkenberg, James Janowitz, Franklin Leonard, Stephanie March, Soledad O’Brien, Dee Poku, Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar, John Schmidt, Lisa Taback, Teddy Schwarzman, Drew Wilson and Celia Winchester.
Actress-producer-director Riley Keough most recently starred in the Amazon Prime Video series Daisy Jones & the Six, which earned nine Emmy nominations, including a lead actress in a limited series nod for Keough. (The Emmys were postponed from their traditional September date due to the writers and actors strikes and are set to be presented in January.) Keough’s other credits include Zola, The Runaways, The Girlfriend Experience and American Honey.
And Keough made her directorial debut with the 2022 film War Pony, which she co-directed with producing partner Gina Gammell. The critically acclaimed project, which Keough’s production company Felix Culpa developed and produced won the Camera d’Or award at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. Other Felix Culpa projects include the Jesse Eisenberg starrer Manodrome and Hulu limited series Under the Bridge, based on the Rebecca Godfrey book of the same name.
Cassidy, along with Focus chairman Peter Kujawski received the industry tribute at last year’s Gotham Awards, where Focus’ Tár led that year’s nominations. Cassidy became vice chairman in 2019 after joining the studio as president of marketing in 2016.
Focus projects scored four Gotham Awards nominations this year.
Prior to Focus, Cassidy, who has 25 years of experience marketing films, worked as chief marketing officer at Open Road, leading the Oscar campaign for 2016 best picture winner Spotlight. Prior to Open Road, he ran the marketing department at Miramax, leading the Oscar campaigns for best picture winners Chicago and No Country for Old Men.
“We are so excited to add Jason, one of the most respected and innovative film executives, and Riley, an extraordinarily talented actress and critically acclaimed filmmaker, to The Gotham’s already incredible board of directors,” Gotham Film & Media Institute executive director Jeffrey Sharp said in a statement. “With their genuine passion for championing independent creatives, we are confident that the organization will amplify its positive impact on the media industry through their expertise and perspectives.”
In addition to the Gotham Awards, The Gotham supports independent film and media creators as they seek to advance their careers and achieve wider recognition.
The 2023 Gotham Awards are set for Nov. 27 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York.
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