Noah Cowan (July 22, 1967 – January 25, 2023) was a Canadian artistic director, who served as the executive director of
SFFILM from March 2014 to May 2019. He oversaw the organization's exhibition, education, and filmmaker services. Before joining SFFILM, Cowan was the artistic director of
TIFF Bell Lightbox
TIFF Lightbox is a cultural centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the first five floors of the Lightbox and Festival Tower on the northwest corner of King Street and John Street.
TIFF Lightbox features five cinemas, two restaurants, ma ...
, and also worked as the co-director of the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
from 2004 to 2008.
Early career
Cowan was raised in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Canada. He attended
University of Toronto Schools
University of Toronto Schools (UTS) is an independent secondary day school affiliated with the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school follows a specialized academic curriculum, and admission is determined by a written exam ...
before studying philosophy at
McGill University
McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in 1989. Cowan was
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
.
Cowan began his career performing various roles at the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
. His first venture as a programmer was the Midnight Madness program, launched in 1989. He subsequently created national cinema retrospectives India Now! (with David Overbey) and The New Beat of Japan for the organization.
Cowboy Booking International and Cowboy Pictures
Cowan developed Cowboy Booking International, a consolidating global sub-distributor for film sales agents such as
Celluloid Dreams,
Fortissimo Film Sales, Films Transit, Flach Pyramide and Christa Saredi Films, and producers such as
Good Machine
Good Machine Productions was an American independent film production, film distribution, and foreign sales company started in the early 1990 by its co-founders and producers, Ted Hope and James Schamus. David Linde joined as a partner in the l ...
and Telling Pictures. Cowboy pioneered the application of a consistent fee structure for the growing number of film festivals worldwide to access international art films and documentaries.
In 1995, Cowan and John Vanco launched and served as co-presidents of Cowboy Pictures, an art house cinema distributor. Cowboy-released films were acclaimed by a number of organizations including the
New York Film Critics Circle
The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) is an American film critic
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scho ...
and
The Academy Awards.
Cowboy partnered with
Antidote Films
Antidote Films, also known as Antidote International Films, Inc., is an independent film production company founded by Film producer, producer Jeff Levy-Hinte based in the Hudson Square neighborhood of New York City. In 2008, Antidote completed ...
in 1999 to create Code Red Films, a vehicle to cross-collateralize several art film releases over three years. Titles distributed by Cowboy and Code Red included:
The Life And Times Of Hank Greenberg
''The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg'' is a 1999 documentary film written, directed, and produced by Aviva Kempner about Hank Greenberg, first baseman of the Detroit Tigers, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. A Jewish player who ...
,
Fat Girl,
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
,
La Cienaga,
Promises (nominated for Best Documentary at the 2002 Academy Awards)
and
The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition. Cowboy also acted as a releasing sub-distributor for
Miramax Films
Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...
, bringing to market their Rolling Thunder titles acquired in collaboration with
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...
. Titles included
Hard Core Logo
''Hard Core Logo'' is a 1996 Canadian music mockumentary film directed by Bruce McDonald, adapted by Noel S. Baker from the novel of the same name by Michael Turner. The film illustrates the self-destruction of punk rock, documenting a once-pop ...
,
The Beyond,
Mighty Peking Man.
Global Film Initiative
In 2002, Cowan founded and served as executive director of the
Global Film Initiative
The Global Film Initiative (GFI) was a non-profit film organization that supported cinematic works from developing nations and promotes cross-cultural understanding through use of film and non-traditional learning resources. Its most notable progr ...
in New York City, a not-for-profit organization that seeks to create global understanding though film, with philanthropist Susan Weeks Coulter. In partnership with
The Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of arc ...
, the foundation funded, acquired, distributed and created educational material for socially meaningful cinema from the developing world. Global Lens, the Initiative's touring program, reached more than 50 communities per year, with a focus on screenings at museum-based youth programs. The Initiative wound down its activities in 2014.
Later career
Toronto International Film Festival
From 2004 to 2008, Cowan acted as co-director of the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
.
He helped launch Future Projections, which aimed to be a city-wide meeting of the visual arts and cinema. Under Cowan's direction, Future Projections collaborated with the
Royal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...
,
Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery,
Art Gallery of Ontario
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; ) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Dundas Street, Dundas Street West in the Grange Park (neighbourhood), Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, the museum complex takes up of phys ...
, and
MOCCA.
TIFF Bell Lightbox
In 2008, Cowan became artistic director of
TIFF Bell Lightbox
TIFF Lightbox is a cultural centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the first five floors of the Lightbox and Festival Tower on the northwest corner of King Street and John Street.
TIFF Lightbox features five cinemas, two restaurants, ma ...
, a multi-purpose film institution and the home of the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
. Cowan oversaw the film exhibition and film education functions of the project, which created film retrospectives on
Raj Kapoor
Raj Kapoor (; born as Shrishti Nath Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influen ...
and
Gregg Araki
Gregg Araki (born December 17, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is noted for his involvement with the New Queer Cinema movement. His ''Teenage Apocalypse'' film trilogy, consisting of ''Totally F***ed Up ''(1993), ''The Doom Generation ''(1995) ...
. On the Lightbox stage, he interviewed
Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...
,
Christopher Doyle,
Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an American actor. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
Davis made her acting debut in the satirical romantic comedy ''Toots ...
and
Susan Sarandon
Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actor. With a career spanning over five decades, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...
, among others. His writing appeared in 180°, Lightbox's seasonal programming guide. He also served as the primary curator of Lightbox's museum space, beginning with ''Essential Cinema'', a gallery show detailing the inspiration behind 100 key films in cinema history. Cowan was the Toronto curator for several exhibitions including ''Tim Burton'' (a project of the
Museum of Modern Art, New York
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of arc ...
) and ''Fellini: Spectacular Obsessions'' (which premiered at the Jeu du Paume in Paris in 2009).
Before his departure, Cowan completed two large-scale projects: ''A Century Of Chinese Cinema'', a 100-film retrospective of Chinese cinema history that also included a new visual arts commission, ''New Women'', from
Yang Fudong, debuted in June 2013. Cowan co-curated the ''David Cronenberg: Evolution'' exhibition in October 2013 and ''David Cronenberg Transformation'', the accompanying museum show at the
Museum Of Contemporary Canadian Art of visual artists responding to
Cronenberg’s work. He contributed to catalogues for both shows, oversaw an Alternative Reality Game (Body/Mind/Change, created by
Lance Weiler
Lance Weiler is an American filmmaker and writer from Pennsylvania, and the Director of the Digital Storytelling Lab at Columbia University School of the Arts. He first was known for '' The Last Broadcast'' (1997), a found footage horror film ...
) and the David Cronenberg Virtual Exhibition.
SFFILM
In March 2014, Cowan became executive director of San Francisco Film Society (which he rebranded as SFFILM in 2016). He led a staff of 33 full-time employees and over 100 seasonal employees and interns each year and built unique partnerships with key cultural institutions and locally meaningful brands across San Francisco, including SFMOMA, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Dolby, Lucasfilm and Pixar. While doubling the organization's revenue, Cowan worked with his team to create a revamped annual charity gala as a major national award season event, including a $250,000 net annual Fund-A-Need campaign for education initiatives. He successfully moved SFFILM Festival's theater footprint to transit-friendly neighborhoods, resulting in a significant shift to younger and more diverse audience demographics and doubled
foundation support for artist development activities, initiating unique new programs with Alfred P. Sloan, Westridge, Flora Family, Compton and Time Warner Foundations, He also launched SFFILM Invest, a major initiative to bring philanthropic and equity-based investments to contemporary American independent films; initial slate generated $1 million in investments. He left SFFILM in May 2019.
Cowan had worked as an independent consultant to film festivals, movie theaters, producers and media-related NGOs from October 2019.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Noah
1967 births
2023 deaths
University of Toronto alumni
Toronto International Film Festival people
Mass media people from Toronto