As Deputy Commissioner of the Film Office at the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, Kwame Amoaku serves as principal advisor on film and television production policy in New York City. This includes promoting New York City as a premier location for production, developing and maintaining relationships with key industry stakeholders, and overseeing the film permitting process.
Prior to joining MOME in July 2022, he served as director of Chicago's Film Office. Amoaku's career in film and television spans 30 years, and includes experience in directing, producing, writing, cinematography, acting, and location management. As director of the Chicago Film Office, he helped develop COVID-19 protocols that allowed filming permits to be issued by June 2020 and served as part of the city's COVID Recovery Task Force, which invested in workforce development and infrastructure to increase soundstage capacity and revenues by 25 percent and film production by 125 percent. Amoaku also designed and implemented a workforce development program for Chicago residents from underserved areas and created the Chicago Independent Producers Lab, to provide professional development and support to Chicago's independent film community.