Wed, 05/13/2026

By IDA Staff

International Documentary Association (IDA) has appointed Rachel Denny as Deputy Executive Director, effective May 11, 2026. The newly created position oversees external affairs and financial strategy, reporting directly to Executive Director Dominic Asmall Willsdon. Based in New York, Denny will also lead IDA's activities on the East Coast, where more than a quarter of its members are based.

Denny brings two decades of experience as a media, film, and nonprofit executive, with leadership roles at the Sundance Institute, Film at Lincoln Center, and United States Artists. She has served as an external affairs consultant to IDA for nearly a year through her firm, Media Philanthropy Advisory, which has also worked with Brooklyn Academy of Music, Cinereach, Peace is Loud, and Wavelength Productions on fundraising, strategic planning, and audience development. She is a certified Impact Philanthropy Advisor.

Ina Fichman, Board President, said: “Rachel has shown, through her consulting work with IDA, that she truly understands this organization and the community it serves. The board is delighted to see that relationship become a permanent one, and confident that it strengthens IDA at a consequential moment for the field.”

Dominic Asmall Willsdon, Executive Director of IDA, said: “Rachel is a rigorous thinker who understands both the art form and the field. She has been a close collaborator through a time when IDA is building real momentum, and this appointment formalizes a partnership that’s already producing results. I couldn’t be more pleased to have her in this role.”

Rachel Denny said: “Over the last year as a consultant, I have seen how critical IDA's role is in the field, the strength and clarity of the vision Dominic and the board have laid out, and the commitment of the staff to bringing this to life. Having spent much of my career supporting filmmakers and the organizations that serve them, I know well the pivotal role IDA is positioned to play. I’m honored to step into this role and committed to solidifying and expanding the impact IDA makes for documentary storytellers and the field.”

Denny joins as IDA reaches its highest membership in the organization’s history—more than 3,600 members across 50 states and 80-plus countries—and individual donor support continues to grow. She will work with Willsdon to lead the organization into its next chapter, advancing IDA's mission to provide advocacy, community, and services for documentary makers around the world and foster a thriving, inclusive documentary culture.

Denny is also a film producer. Her credits include Sister Senators and Arrest the Midwife, the latter of which premiered at SXSW in 2025. She is a native New Yorker and lives in the lower Hudson Valley.