IFTA-nominated Documentary maker, Donald Taylor Black, Creative Director of The National Film School at IADT, was elected as Vice Chair of GEECT, at the biennial Congress of CILECT (The International Association of Film and Television Schools) last month in Los Angeles.
GEECT (European Grouping of Film and Television Schools) is the regional association of CILECT's European members, plus schools in Israel and Lebanon.
Donald Taylor Black has produced and directed documentaries such as ‘Skin In The Game’, ‘Hearts And Souls’ and ‘The Joy’ with the filmmaker reaping a Best Documentary Award at the Boston Irish Film Festival for ‘Skin In The Game’ - as well as garnering an IFTA nomination for Best Feature Documentary.
Donald took over as Vice Chair of GEECT from Nik Powell, Director of the UK's National Film and Television School, who retired from GEECT's Executive after completing the maximum eight year term.
The new Chair of GEECT is Bert Beyens of RITS, School of Arts, in Belgium, and the other members of the Executive are Pavel Jech of FAMU, Czech Republic (Treasurer), Vinca Wiedemann of the National Film School of Denmark, and Manuel Jose Damasio, Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias (Portugal).
Speaking about the appointment, Donald Taylor Black said: ‘I'm absolutely delighted to be elected as Vice Chair of GEECT. It's not just a recognition of my 12 years experience in CILECT and GEECT - and six years as a GEECT Executive member - but it's a validation of IADT's reputation as a European film school.’
The National Film School at IADT will host GEECT's first ever conference on Production Design in Dun Laoghaire from 11-13 March, 2015.