EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Heather Older is the Executive Director of the McMinnville Short Film Festival in McMinnville, Oregon. She has a deep love for film and filmmaking and has served as a voting judge for various short film festivals. As writer and producer, Heather is coming off the film festival circuit with her six-time award winning comedy short, "AC." Heather arrives from Los Angeles, where over the course of 23 years she wore various hats and headsets, most notably as Production Coordinator for Jon Favreau's Dinner for Five on IFC, and as a Project Manager in the Entertainment and Media Division at Korn Ferry International. She holds a BFA in Communications Design from Syracuse University and attended Central St. Martins in London where her concentration was storytelling through fine art photography. Above all, Heather is a screenwriter and is most often found lying awake at night worrying about dull protagonists, languishing third acts, and expository dialogue.

BOARD CHAIR

Gretchen Lawrence is an Oregon native who comes to McMinnville Short Film Festival with 20 years of non-profit work experience. For the past six years Gretchen has worked for Legacy Health in philanthropy and community engagement. Her roles include stewarding donors and providing coordination for stewardship and fundraising events, benefiting all eight medical center sites. She has additional fundraising experience from positions at OHSU Foundation and Childpeace Montessori school. She is currently a member of the Association of Donor Relations Professionals and Women in Film Portland. Gretchen has a passion for helping others and has put that passion to work in her community through volunteering for multiple organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Oregon Food Bank, Meals on Wheels, and Brown Hope.

Gretchen is excited to bring her professional experience, her passion for community, and her love of film and the arts to the McMinnville Short Film Festival.

CO-FOUNDER

Dan Morrow is the co-founder of the MSFF and served as the Technical Director since its inception in 2011 until 2022. Dan is currently serving as a Festival Programmer for MSFF. Dan graduated from Oregon State University with a B.S. in Computer Science, and pursued his love of computer programming by working at Microsoft and as a freelance programmer. He and his wife Nancy moved to McMinnville in 2000 and in 2001 purchased Movietime Video. Through owning a video store, the idea of a film festival was born. After closing the video store in 2016, Dan and Nancy launched a new business – an art gallery! The Gallery at Ten Oaks is located in a historical building next to Linfield University. Dan and Nancy live in McMinnville with their disgruntled cat Maggie, and they try to spend as much time with their new grandson as humanly possible.

CO-FOUNDER

Nancy Morrow is the co-founder of the MSFF and served as the Executive Director from 2011 to 2022. Nancy is the past Chair of the Board and currently is a Festival Programmer. Nancy graduated from Oregon State University with a B.S. in Business Education. Instead of teaching, Nancy has worked in the administrative field along with doing event coordination. After working at Microsoft as an Executive Assistant, Nancy left in 1998 to open her own business offering administrative support. This business, along with running a video store and now an art gallery keeps Nancy busy, but not too much that she doesn’t enjoy her new grandson (and putting up with the disgruntled cat).