Amy Lillard

Amy Lillard is an economic development leader who develops new programs and strategies aimed at supporting the growth and sustainability of creative professionals and creative businesses. 

As the Washington State Film Commissioner, Lillard focuses on promoting local film jobs and businesses and marketing the State of Washington as a destination for creativity and cutting-edge content creation.  In this capacity, Lillard has recruited over 126 projects to film in the Evergreen state. These projects have created over 24,000 jobs for Washington workers and generated an estimated $386M of economic activity statewide.  More recently, Lillard launched Whipsmart, a trade association focused on raising the profile of creativity and connecting creatives to work by providing advocacy, curated resources, intentional networking, and meaningful opportunities that help the community level up.

Lillard started her career as an independent film publicist out of New York and Los Angeles, designing the release campaigns for groundbreaking films such at The Blair Witch Project, American Psycho, and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. In Seattle, she has worked in various capacities including as the Director of Publicity and Promotion at the Seattle International Film Festival, Producer of the Fly Filmmaking Challenge, and Festival Director of the Reel Cinerama Film Festival.