by Pamela Cole

Atlanta, GA, Dec. 5, 2006 – Dr. Daniel Krovich (he has a PhD in pharmacology and molecular sciences from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) took a circuitous route to his new job as IMAGE Festival Director.

"When I graduated from college (College of William and Mary) I still wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do, so I figured I'd just stay in school and I continued on into a PhD." While the scientific subject matter interested Krovich, he says the graduate school experience convinced him that it wasn't something he would be happy doing day-to-day. "I just knew it wasn't going to be something I could do for the rest of my life," he said.

"I've always been a film fan and in in graduate school, I had volunteered for various film festivals in Baltimore. I heavily volunteered my second year with the Maryland Film Festival. Getting close to the end of my PhD, my plan at that point was to get some kind of big-paying money job for a couple of years and then find some way to work in the film industry-festivals or production."

"Literally as I was finishing my thesis, the job for programming at the Maryland Film Festival opened up and the timing just seemed so fortuitous, that I skipped the 'get the money job' part of my plan and just jumped right into it."

Krovich kept that programming job for six years, "which is a fairly long time in the film festival world," he said. While working for the Maryland Film Festival, Krovich crossed paths with Gabe Wardell, the new IMAGE executive director who also did a stint at the Maryland Film Festival.

"I've known about the Atlanta Film Festival for years, even though I never actually attended, myself," Krovich admitted. "There's actually a pretty good connection between Baltimore and Atlanta."

"I heard about this job [as IMAGE Festival Director], and had some familiarity with the festival. It was a bigger market, and going from programmer to festival director was a step up too, so, again, it just seemed like the time was right."

Krovich moved from Maryland to Atlanta just in time for the Out on Film Festival.

Click here for a wrap-up review on the Out on Film Festival.