Dialogues on Leadership New Leaders Only
Christopher M. Carmody
President, Greater Cleveland Film Commission
 Chris
Carmody founded the Greater Cleveland Film Commission and has served as
its president since January 1, 1998. The Greater Cleveland Film
Commission has brought in more than $32 million dollars to Northeast
Ohio's economy through the promotion of the region as a business
location for film, television, video and still photography production.
The Film Commission has attracted and supported several hundred
productions, including "Against the Ropes" with Meg Ryan, Oscarâ„¢
nominated "American Splendor," Denzel Washington's "Antwone Fisher,"
and George Clooney's "Welcome to Collinwood."
Carmody served as Mayor Michael R. White's special assistant for
Education from 1990 to 1993, and as co-director of the Mayor's Office
on Competitiveness from 1993 to 1995. In both capacities, Carmody
performed strategic planning for Mayor White and advised him on key
policy issues. In addition, he was responsible for organizational
building around Mayoral initiatives.
In 2002, Carmody was an American Marshall Memorial Fellow. The
Fellowship was established in 1999 to educate a new generation of
American leaders on the importance of international
relations--specifically transatlantic relations. During the fellowship,
Carmody spent a month examining economic, cultural and public policy
issues in Germany, Spain, Belgium and Hungary.
In 2004, Carmody managed the campaign for Issue 31, a Cuyahoga
County initiative to create local public funding for arts and culture
and generate additional catalytic economic development dollars. The
initiative lost by six points but the County and arts community have
continued to build on the ideas generated by the Issue 31 effort.
Carmody has a Master's Degree in Business Administration from Case
Western Reserve's Weatherhead School of Management and an A.B. degree
in English from Oberlin College. He teaches an urban politics course at
Oberlin each spring, focusing on the challenges faced by the city of
Cleveland.