Northwest Film Forum is a non-profit film arts organization established in Seattle in 1995. NWFF operates a two-screen movie theater year-round in Seattle, but also offers workshops, equipment rentals, and filmmaking grants and sponsorships in support of local cinema. NWFF also provides a prominent showcase for local filmmakers every fall with "Local Sightings," a week-long festival for the best of Northwestern

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

 film and video.

NWFF was founded in 1995 by filmmakers Jamie Hook

Jamie Hook

Jamie Hook is a filmmaker and theatre director. He is also well known as the founding director of WigglyWorld Studios/The Northwest Film Forum, and sometimes film critic for such publications as The Stranger and Vogue Hommes....

 and Deborah Girdwood as WigglyWorld Studios. Working on a film of their own, Hook and Girdwood decided to donate the equipment and facilities purchased for that project to a "filmmaker's collective" that could benefit the entire city. The organization hoped to promote the creation of independent film in Seattle.

NWFF instituted the nationally-known "Start-to-Finish" grant

Grant (money)

Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...

, in which all stages of a project's production are assisted, from fundraising to filming to exhibition. Launched in 1997 with filmmaker Gregg Lachow

Gregg Lachow

Gregg Lachow is a Seattle-based film and theatre artist. After creating the feature films The Seven Mysteries of Life and The Wright Brothers, Lachow worked with the Northwest Film Forum to create the nationally renowned Start-to-Finish program with his feature film, Money Buys Happiness...

's feature film, Money Buys Happiness, this program has been noted in such publications as Filmmaker Magazine and Indiewire

IndieWire

indieWIRE is a daily news site for the independent film community. It covers indie, documentary and foreign language films, as well industry news, film festival reports, filmmaker interviews and movie reviews...

. Recent grant recipient Robinson Devor's Police Beat premiered as one of only sixteen films in Dramatic Competition at Sundance

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...

 in 2005.

NWFF grew first with the 1996 purchase of Seattle art-house movie theater The Grand Illusion Cinema, and later with the 1998 founding of the multi-function Little Theatre

Little Theatre

The Little Theatre in Rochester, New York, commonly known as "The Little" is a movie theatre located on historic East Avenue in downtown Rochester, New York and a modest non-profit multiplex specializing in art film, including independent and foreign productions outside the United States.Founded in...

. In 2004, NWFF consolidated operations in one location, in Seattle's Pike-Pine neighborhood.