The DocYard Welcomes New Series Producer

Cambridge, MA – The DocYard, Boston’s home for artful non-fiction cinema, has announced that Kayla Myers will be the Series Producer for its upcoming Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 seasons.  

The DocYard, founded in 2010 by Sara Archambault, Ben Fowlie, and Sean Flynn and a program of the LEF Foundation, is an award-winning documentary film and discussion series at the Brattle Theatre. Since March of this year, the DocYard screenings and Q&As have transitioned online for the health and safety of its audience. The Series Producer role was created to manage the logistics of these virtual events and to incorporate a stronger focus on community engagement and strategy into the DocYard’s activities.

The DocYard’s Series Producer Kayla Myers is a programmer, writer, video artist, and filmmaker. After graduating from the University of Missouri in 2018 with degrees in Strategic Communication and Digital Storytelling, Myers served as a media production fellow with Impact America in Birmingham, Alabama before returning home to Memphis, where she also works as a programmer with the Indie Memphis Film Festival. 

Her interest in film has been lifelong, but it wasn’t until she began her studies in digital storytelling at Mizzou that her interests began to take shape into more than just a passing love. She attended True/False in Columbia and made Ragtag Cinema her second home, while being exposed to video artists and experimental films in digital storytelling classes led by Katina Bitsicas. As a member of one of the earliest classes  of Digital Storytelling students, Kayla had her short films and photography, both narrative and documentary, showcased at the Citizen Jane Film Festival and gallery spaces in Columbia. 

“Kayla comes to the DocYard with impeccable taste, deep thoughtfulness, and a strong commitment to regional filmmaking, exhibition, and community-building in all of its potentialities,” said Abby Sun, the DocYard’s Curator. “We’re delighted to have Kayla contribute her work and vision to the DocYard.”

Kayla is passionate about making film more accessible to those not living in large filmmaking centers and developing audiences with a thoughtful, community-centered approach. It is this type of community-focused approach that drew Kayla to The DocYard. 

“I’m really interested in working with organizations that want to present challenging, incredible work to their communities, but not without interrogating who is in that community, who we’re missing, and who do we have the opportunity to connect with,” she explained. “It’s why I’m so excited to get to work with the DocYard and the highly engaged community of Cambridge and surrounding areas, in addition to the audiences we have the potential to reach with virtual screenings.” 

The DocYard community may not get the chance to meet Kayla in person, but she looks forward to connecting with audiences and filmmakers virtually.