International Documentary Association Appoints Kevin Iwashina as President of the Board of Directors

February 15, 2018 (Los Angeles, CA) - Today, the International Documentary Association announced the appointment of Kevin Iwashina as the new President of the Board of Directors, replacing Marjan Safinia, who termed out this year.

"I could not be more honored to be appointed the President of the IDA at this critical moment in documentary film,” says Iwashina. “Technology is expanding access to non-fiction storytelling in long form, series and audio formats and my new role at the IDA will ensure that we are maximizing our resources around advocacy and education to support the art form of the documentary narrative."

Iwashina is an agent at Endeavor Content, a division of global entertainment leader Endeavor (formerly WME | IMG). In his role, Iwashina identifies financing opportunities, handles sales, and provides advisory services for media companies and content creators in the non-fiction space. In non-fiction, recent Endeavor Content film and television projects include: Chef’s Table, Le Mans, The Grand Tour, Gleason, Step, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A Bad Boy Story, and Long Strange Trip, among others.

Prior to Endeavor, Iwashina served as Founder & CEO at Preferred Content (PC), a film, television and digital sales, production and advisory company. During his tenure, he oversaw the representation of fiction and non-fiction content creators to secure financing and distribution of feature films and episodic series concepts. Iwashina was the lead producer of the hit documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, the precursor to Chef’s Table.

In addition to Iwashina, two current IDA Board members will assume new leadership roles—James Costa and Lauren Lexton will become Vice Presidents.

Costa is on the board of The International Fund for Animal Welfare, Farm Sanctuary, and Sea Shepherd. He is also on the Leadership Council for the Roundabout Theatre in New York City. He is director and producer of the documentary, Lunch Hour, and co-producer of the upcoming doc, SHAC.

Lexton is an Emmy Award winning Producer and the CEO of Authentic Entertainment, a leading producer of non-fiction television programming. Named to Realscreen Magazineʼs “Global 100” list every year from 2007 to the present, Authentic has produced hit series Flipping Out!, Knife Fight, Best Thing I Ever Ate, Ace of Cakes and numerous other projects which include short form and documentary.

The IDA also announced that James Ackerman will continue in his role as Board Treasurer, and Fonda Berosini will continue in her role as Board Secretary.

Ackerman is a seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience worldwide in leading advanced media companies. In June 2016, Ackerman was appointed Chairman of the Board for Accedo, a leading provider of user experiences and related technologies for video-based mobile apps. In August 2016 Ackerman became the President and Chief Executive Officer of Prison Fellowship, a non-profit founded by the late Chuck Colson. Ackerman and his wife have served as volunteers with and donors to Prison Fellowship since 2004.

Berosini is is currently Executive Director of Communications, Digital Media at Disney/ABC Television Group.  An IDA Board member since 2012, she has served on the Executive Committee as Secretary since 2014. Over the course of her career in digital marketing at companies such as Participant Media and Warner Independent Pictures she has worked on the following documentaries: the 2009 Oscar-winning The Cove, Food, Inc., The 11th Hour, Darfur Now, Jimmy Carter Man From Plains, Chicago 10 and March of the Penguins, among others.