MIDDLEBURY — After completing an extensive national search with many impressive applicants, the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival (MNFF) Board of Directors has named Emmy Award winning filmmaker and local arts leader Andy Knight Mitchell as its new managing producer. He stared the job today, June 8.
Mitchell’s professional achievements are extensive and diverse. He has won five Emmy Awards as a producer, director, writer and director of photography. His work appears on Netflix, National Geographic, Disney+, BBC, and many other platforms. Mitchell’s credits include the global hits “Secrets of the Whales,” “Penguin Town” and “Inside the Mind of a Dog.” He recently served as the director of photography on the well-regarded feature documentary “Yo, Love is a Rebellious Bird,” which premiered at the prestigious 2026 Berlin International Film Festival and won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution.
Over a 25-year career, Mitchell has filmed on every continent and in every ocean, documenting the inhabitants of our planet from great white sharks to Buddhist monks, and natural disasters to rock stars.
After attending Middlebury College, Mitchell left Vermont to pay his dues, but returned to raise a family. He has called Middlebury home for 22 years and has spent much of that time giving back to the community he loves. He co-founded Middlebury Underground, a 501c3 non-profit multidisciplinary arts organization that goes by the moniker “MUS” and is dedicated to bringing diverse cross-sections of the community together through unique shared experiences. MUD’s flagship event, Foodaroo, welcomes thousands of people each year and this summer will be the gathering’s 11th season. Through his involvement with MUD, Mitchell has been a consistent presence in the local arts and cultural landscape.
The MNFF board was enthusiastic about their new hire.
“In a very strong group of applicants,” said Alex Draper, MNFF board co-chair, “the breadth of Andy’s professional experience and his deep involvement in the Middlebury community made him the obvious and exciting choice. We’re thrilled.”
Board Co-Chair Maggie Keith Gerakos added her endorsement.
“We’re all so excited to welcome Andy into this role as we head into MNFF12, and to usher in the next phase of this wonderful festival under his leadership,” she said in a press release. “We couldn’t have asked for a better result of our search — the future is bright for MNFF!”
Mitchell joins the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival with heartfelt enthusiasm for its mission of championing emerging voices in independent film. He brings to the position not only a wealth of industry experience — including 15 years as an Emmy Awards judge — but a genuine, homegrown investment in MNFF’s future.
“MNFF has always represented something I care about deeply — providing new filmmakers an outstanding platform to showcase their work and network with others at the outset of their film careers,” Mitchell noted in the press release. “Continuing that tradition, and embracing MNFF’s amazing community of supporters, many of whom are friends and neighbors in the town I’ve called home for over two decades, feels like a natural and exciting next chapter.”
He joins a team including MNFF Artistic Director and Co-Founder Jay Craven, Co-Founder Lloyd Komesar and Associate Producer Annika Ellis.
The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival was formed to support, promote and exhibit the work of first and second-time filmmakers from around the world. Its unwavering commitment is to offer a level playing field to emerging talent and to offer its audiences an unparalleled opportunity to discover new voices. The 12th Annual Festival will take place Aug. 26-30 in downtown Middlebury. More information about the Festival is available at www.middfilmfest.org.
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Editor’s note: Look for a full story in Thursday’s edition of the Addison Independent.
