Simon Kilmurry is the executive director of the International Documentary Association (IDA). He joined IDA in June 2015 and oversees all IDA programs and operations, including filmmaker services, educational programs, the IDA Awards and advocacy for the field.

In 2016, Kilmurry joined the board of jurors of the George Foster Peabody Awards. He serves as an international advisor to the Greenhouse Fund and is on the board of screeners of the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards. He is a member of the Producers Guild of America, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Prior to joining IDA he served from 1999 to 2015 in various roles at American Documentary POV, including nine years as the executive producer of POV, the long-running PBS showcase of independent documentaries. As executive producer he received 17 Emmy Awards, more than 60 Emmy nominations, six George Foster Peabody Awards, four Du Pont Columbia Awards, and is a two-time recipient of the Best Continuing Series Award from the International Documentary Association. He also served as chief executive of American Documentary (AmDoc), POV’s non-profit parent organization.

While serving as executive director of AmDoc he oversaw all programs, including production and programming, POV digital, community engagement and development, and developed America ReFramed, an award-winning documentary series on the WORLD Channel.

He has worked with a wide range of emerging and established filmmakers, including Laura Poitras, Marshall Curry, Yung Chang, Yoruba Richen, Natalia Almada and Jennifer Fox amongst others.

He has served on juries and panels at film festivals around the world including Sundance, IDFA, Tribeca Film Festival, Dok Leipzig, Sheffield DocFest, Hot Docs, Toronto International Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Visions du Reel and Doc Aviv.  And he has lectured and conducted workshops at universities, film schools and conferences in the U.S. and internationally.