Board

Lacey Leavitt Gray

President

Lacey is a producer and writer whose credits include Lynn Shelton's Outside In, Touchy Feely, and Laggies, Megan Griffiths' Year of the Fox, I’ll Show You Mine, Sadie, The Off Hours, and Lucky Them, Todd Rohal's The Catechism Cataclysm, The Hunky Boys Go Ding-Dong, and M.O.P.Z., Colin Trevorrow's Safety Not Guaranteed, and adult swim's Three Busy Debras. Her films have played at festivals throughout the world, including Sundance, SXSW, Toronto, Busan, San Sebastian, and Seattle. She’s also created cinematic XR, including an immersive Claude Monet piece that premiered at the 2019 TED conference. Lacey is a Sundance Creative Producing Lab and University of Washington alum, and recipient of the Seattle Mayor's Award for Achievement in Film. She lives in Seattle with her dogs, daughter, and husband, whom she took to Scarecrow on their second date.

Favorite Scarecrow sections: Psychotronic

Why I serve on the Scarecrow Board: I discovered Scarecrow while I was a film studies major at UW and the space, staff, and collection were--and still are--integral to my film education. Every time I walk into Scarecrow, I get a sense of awe at the collective film history I get to be a part of, both as a filmmaker and as an audience member. I don't want to live in a Seattle--or a world--without Scarecrow, thus I had to roll up my sleeves and give back to a place that has given me so much over the years!

Currently recommending:  One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (1977, Agnes Varda); The Found Footage Festival Volumes 3 & 4 (2008, 2009); Notorious (1946, Alfred Hitchcock); Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Michel Gondry)

Brian Alter

Secretary

Brian is senior video editor at Seattle’s nicest advertising agency, Copacino Fujikado. Since 2003 he has volunteered at the non-profit arthouse cinema, The Grand Illusion, where he has done every conceivable job and currently serves as Executive Director.

Favorite Scarecrow Section: Mondo Macabro

Why I serve on the Scarecrow Board: When I moved to Seattle I immediately made the proverbial pilgrimage to Scarecrow. As a lifelong movie-lover, it was and continues to be a place of comfort and a source of inspiration to me. I want that for everyone. Which is why I joined the board when it became a non-profit and why I continue to support the organization.

Currently recommending: Perfect Days (2023, Wim Wenders); Showing Up (2022, Kelly Reichardt); Bait (2019, Mark Jenkin)

Kate Barr

Treasurer

Kate obtained a degree in Film Management from Columbia College, Chicago, back in the early 1990s. She delved briefly into Chicago’s commercial film production industry doing on-set production work, and then returned to the film industry in the early 2000s, this time in LA, working as a Controller for commercial productions. Kate moved to Seattle in 2009 where she joined the volunteers at The Grand Illusion Cinema and helped bring it back from the brink of closing. She is one of the founding members of SV Archive, the nonprofit that took over Scarecrow’s collection in 2014.

Favorite Scarecrow section: Whodunit

Why I serve on the Scarecrow Board: I joined with other Scarecrow staff members to form the nonprofit because I knew from the very first moment I walked through the doors that this was one of the magical places. To amble through the aisles and feel your synapses firing as a glimpse of box art or a story captures your imagination, or to be catapulted into a memory of the first time you saw this movie or the time you watched that movie with a person long since out of your life - wow! what a powerful experience. And I want this for everyone - a place to have one's mind stimulated or have the ability to make those memories - so I give of my time in order to keep this incredible place of wonder available to all.

Currently recommending: Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (2017, Catherine Bainbridge, Alfonso Maiorana); Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018, Pamela B. Green); Rat (2000, Steve Barron); The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974, Joseph Sargent, 4K release)

Mark Daniels

Mark was born into a military family, fourth of six children, married for twenty-five years and father of two daughters, he has called the Seattle area home since 1970. His father and siblings were big fans of westerns, musicals, comedies, and dramas, but Mark discovered his passion when his eldest brother introduced him to Star Trek at age six. When not feeding his sci-fi addiction and bolstering his preternaturally encyclopedic knowledge of all things Star Trek, he is busy sharing his passion with the community. Since April 2012, he has been a guest host on the podcast Treks in Sci-Fi. For the past six years, Mark has also been a volunteer at Scarecrow Video in Seattle. Outside of all things science fiction, he serves as the Facilities Director at a local technical college, where he has worked for 35 years. He is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of 16 buildings and grounds on 40 acres and supervises a crew of 20 employees.

Favorite Scarecrow section: Classic Science Fiction

Why I serve on the Scarecrow Board:  I serve on the Scarecrow Board because I wanted to be part of this amazing family. I started off as a volunteer in September 2017. The first time I walked into Scarecrow Video, I thought I died and gone to heaven. I loved Scarecrow from the first moment I walked through the front door. I immediately wanted to be a volunteer. I attended an orientation and started to train. I learned how to run the boxes back to the floor and returned the discs to the stacks from an amazing crew that loved what they did. The longer I worked, the more cared about Scarecrow and the staff. In 2019, I joined The Silver Screeners program. I love being able to go to different venues to show movies and expose people to a diverse type of movies. In 2022, my partner in crime Eric Cohen and I started an online discussion group called Flying Saucer Cinema with the support of Scarecrow Video. Last year, I was asked if I would be interested in serving on the board of Scarecrow Video and I said yes! My goal as a board member is to keep Scarecrow Video alive so that everyone can enjoy the amazing films we have to offer for the next 20 years. That is why I serve on the board of Scarecrow Video.

Currently recommending: The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014, Wes Anderson); The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961, Val Guest); Mr. Klein (1976, Joseph Losey); Onibaba (1964, Kaneto Shindo); Kuroneko (1968, Kaneto Shindo)

Woods Fairbanks

Woods is a film archivist and investor who works with UW Special Collections and has haunted the aisles of Scarecrow throughout the 21st century.

Favorite Scarecrow section: Laserdiscs (also my favorite format)!

Why I serve on the Scarecrow Board: Scarecrow provides access to a vast library of diverse and increasingly hard-to-find titles, and I want to keep it thriving as a vital community resource and unparalleled repository of old media and international film history.

Currently recommending: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Stanley Kubrick); The Stunt Man (1980, Richard Rush); Strangers on a Train (1951, Alfred Hitchcock); Knives Out (2019, Rian Johnson); and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963, Stanley Kramer)

Robert Horton

Robert is a Member of the National Society of Film Critics, "Historian-Programmer in Residence" at Scarecrow Video, and host of the radio program "The Music and the Movies." For many years he was film critic for Seattle Weekly and the Everett Herald and a contributor to Film Comment, has been a Fulbright Specialist (Romania), taught at Seattle University, the Seattle Film Institute, and the Architectural Association in London. Film books include Frankenstein (Columbia U Press) and Billy Wilder: Interviews (U. Press of Mississippi). He's been a speaker with Smithsonian Journeys and Humanities Washington, and served on FIPRESCI juries in Odesa, Ljubljana, Seattle, Mannheim-Heidelberg, Hong Kong, Indianapolis, Berlin, Guadalajara, Montreal, and Palm Springs.

Favorite Scarecrow section: Howard Hawks

Why I serve on the Scarecrow Board: Scarecrow matters greatly, as a protector of physical media, a cauldron for moving-image literacy, and a bulwark against the vagaries of the streaming world. But I also have entirely personal reasons for serving on the Board. Scarecrow's unparalleled collection is like an "Open Sesame" to any kind of weird, obscure, obsessive curiosity one might have. If you are infected with movie love, as I am, it is your place: archive and hangout. I want to see it survive and thrive.

Currently recommending: The Intruder (1962, Roger Corman); The Souvenir (2019, Joanna Hogg); Abigail's Party (1977, Mike Leigh); Wanda (1970, Barbara Loden); Pacifiction (2022, Albert Serra).

Ken Jennings

Ken was a 74-time champion on the quiz show Jeopardy! in 2004 and now hosts the show. Most of his winnings went to Criterion Collection discs. He is also the author of thirteen books and co-hosts the podcast Omnibus. A Scarecrow shopper for over 25 years, he lives in Seattle with his family.

Favorite Scarecrow section: Marx Brothers

Why I serve on the Scarecrow Board: I've spent most of my life in Seattle, which means I've had fifty years to watch things change. A lot of the change has been good, but I'm tired of seeing my favorite old cool places disappear, and I want to make sure that doesn't happen to my all-time favorite video store. Also, would I have ever won on a game show if not for the film education I got via Scarecrow? Seems unlikely!

Currently recommending: Neptune Frost (2021, Anisia Uzeyman, Saul Williams); The Last of Sheila (1973, Herbert Ross); Athena (2022, Romain Gavras); Phantom Lady (1944, Robert Siodmak); Kaili Blues (2015, Bi Gan)

Karl Woelfer

Karl developed his eclectic taste in film in the 1980s, renting VHS tapes and attending screenings at the Art Deco “Tower Theater” in Sacramento, CA, the most memorable movies from this formative era being John Waters' Polyester with Scratch & Sniff cards, Alex Cox's Repo Man, and Claude Lanzmann's 9 1/2 hour documentary Shoah. Karl has appeared, very briefly, in 3 feature films: a live Los Angeles concert audience member in Frank Zappa's Rockumentary The Dub Room Special (1984), a flower shop walk-on part in Cameron Crowe's Singles (1992), and an uncredited extra in the bonfire scene on the UW campus of 21 And Over (2013). He wants to watch every French film in the Scarecrow collection.

Favorite Scarecrow sections: France & Film Noir

Why I serve on the Scarecrow Board: As a longtime customer I was thrilled to be able to join the board of Scarecrow Video ten years ago. I absolutely love the "magic" I feel every time I walk in the store, and I am passionate about working to keep this collection of physical media accessible to the public.

Currently recommending:  When the Cat's Away (Chacun cherche son chat -1996, Cédric Klapisch); Léon, The Professional (1994, Luc Besson, International Cut); Bound (1996, Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski); The Hummingbird (2022, Francesca Archibugi); Filip (2022, Michał Kwieciński); Superposition (2023, Karoline Lyngbye)