Doug Jones, Indie Film Programmer, dead at 53

Doug Jones has died at 53. He was a veteran film programmer, curator and exhibitor at several U.S. film festivals.

Jones most recently served as a consultant programmer for the Vidiots Foundation, a reopened nonprofit video store and theater in Los Angeles, and as a programmer for the South by Southwest Film and TV Festival.

The Vidiots Foundation announced his death in an Instagram post, “It breaks our hearts to share that we have lost the great and wonderful Doug Jones, a beloved and indispensable member of the Vidiots family and a cornerstone of the global film programming community.”

He began working at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1995 after relocating to San Francisco the year before, and he eventually rose from the position of print traffic coordinator to associate programmer.

He also curated films for the Mill Valley Film Festival, Noise Pop Film Festival, and Red Vic Movie House in San Francisco in addition to programming for the San Francisco Film Society.

Jones received a degree in film studies from Metropolitan State University after being born in Boulder, Colorado, and growing up in South Dakota and Minnesota. Before he started a career in film programming, he worked in movie theaters in the Midwest.

Jones is survived by his mother Judy, sister Kathy, son William, extended family-in-law, friends, and coworkers. His wife Paula Buxbaum passed away before him.