Meet the Director
For the Media
Media Inquiries
We welcome your questions about the IU Cinema, its facilities, and films.
Speaking Opportunities
IU Cinema director Jon Vickers is available to speak to groups about independent cinema and the scholarly study of film.
Press Kit
Get the back story about how the IU Cinema came to be, its world-class facility and equipment, scholarly endeavors and archives, and more.
Give Now
Drama, documentary, epic, romance, comedy, horror—movies matter, and your support allows the IU Cinema to continue to be a place for film.
Jon Vickers is the founding director of the Indiana University Cinema. He works both independently and in collaboration with IU faculty to schedule film screenings, retrospectives, festivals, traveling exhibits, topical programs, and guest lectures.
He previously served as managing director of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center at the University of Notre Dame, home to Indiana’s first THX® Certified cinema, as well as four live performance spaces. He also co-owned and operated the Vickers Theatre, an independent, single-screen arthouse in Three Oaks, Michigan, with his wife Jennifer.
Email Jon Vickers here.
Some of Jon’s favorite links
Meet the IU Cinema Team
Manny Knowles has been exhibiting films since he was a teenager in the Bahamas. His BA is from the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. While at USC, he worked as a projectionist for AMC Theatres and as an editorial intern for several feature films. Upon leaving USC, he became a Projection Manager for a cinema chain in the Bahamas. He returned to USC for continued studies in film production, and worked as Assistant Manager of USC’s Cinema Sound Department and projectionist at USC’s Norris Theatre while working on his MFA. At the IU Cinema, Manny is responsible for all technical aspects of public presentations, and for keeping the Cinema’s technology functioning well.
Carla Cowden, a graduate of IU and a long time employee of the university, is the Cinema’s Business Manager. She assists the director in building and maintaining the necessary relationships with studios, film distributors, filmmakers, and other industry professionals outside of IU, as well as stewarding relationships with IU partners and offices critical to the mission of the IU Cinema. As an enthusiastic lover of film, her tastes run from the Hollywood classics to the James Bond series. And yes, she admitted to seeing all of the Twilight films.
The balance of the Cinema’s staff includes a team of part-time staff, volunteers and interns that includes Graduate Assistant Projectionists, Student House Managers, and a variety of Interns. The Cinema also has dozens of exceptional volunteers that offer their time each semester as ushers, designers, and outreach coordinators. This team is critical to the success of the Cinema. We are so appreciative of our staff, volunteers and interns We thank them all!
