Autumn F. Valdez is an experienced business professional with a diverse background in management and finance. Currently serving as Business Director at BlackStar since January 2022, Autumn also held the title of Business Manager. Prior to this, Autumn worked at Theatre Exile from December 2018 to January 2023 as Bookkeeper and General Manager, overseeing daily operations of a nonprofit theatre company, managing finances, and acting as HR representative. Autumn's experience includes managing a large-scale photography and videography studio at JPG Photo & Video, and a significant role at TLA Entertainment Group as Program Coordinator, where policies were developed that expanded a direct distribution DVD platform significantly. Autumn also contributed as an Editorial Assistant, focusing on film research and web management. Autumn holds a Certificate in Financial Accounting from Harvard Business School Online.
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BlackStar
BlackStar creates the spaces and resources needed to uplift the work of Black, Brown and Indigenous artists working outside of the confines of genre. We do this by producing year-round programs including film screenings, exhibitions, an annual film festival, a filmmaker seminar, a film production lab, and a journal of visual culture. These programs provide artists opportunities for viable strategies for collaborations with other artists, audiences, funders, and distributors. We prioritize visionary work that is experimental in its aesthetics, content, and form and builds on the work of elders and ancestors to imagine a new world. We elevate artists who are overlooked, invisibilized or misunderstood and celebrate the wide spectrum of aesthetics, storytelling and experiences that they bring. We bring that work to new audiences as well as place it in dialog with other past and contemporary work. And, we curate every aspect of our events to be intentional community building efforts, connecting diverse audiences in a Black-led space centered on joy and thriving.