Linn Sitler, the longtime Memphis and Shelby County Film Commissioner, will step down from her job on December 31, 2026, after 40 years in the position. “Forty years of service is more than a career. It is a legacy, and Linn Sitler has built an extraordinary one,” says Memphis and Shelby County Film and Television Commission Board Chair Gale Jones Carson. “When it comes to promoting Memphis and Shelby County, she doesn’t take a back seat to anybody.”
Sitler is the longest serving film commissioner in the world, and the longest consecutively involved member of the Association of Film Commissioners International (the AFCI).
Before she took the job as film commissioner in 1987, she was on-air talent and producer for PM Magazine, a syndicated news magazine show.
“I returned to Memphis where my family was and where I’d gone to Central High School and [attended] U of M Graduate School and where I had begun my television career,” Sitler says. “I thought I would stay at the film commission for just for one year and return to television. Here I am — 40 years later and I don’t regret a day of it.
She continues, “I’ve been so fortunate to be in this position and work with so many great clients, board members, and dedicated professional staff [including] Deputy Film Commissioner/Project Specialist Sharon Fox O’Guin and Memphis Music Consultant/Community Outreach Coordinator Al “Kapone” Bailey. However, without our city and county mayors’ continuous support and that of the city council and county commission, nothing would have been possible. That’s 40 years that’s included eight Memphis mayors, six county mayors, and seven board chairs.”
Sitler has been the liaison between government and filmmakers for dozens of high-profile projects over her career, including films such as Mystery Train, The Firm, The People vs. Larry Flynt, The Rainmaker, Hustle & Flow, and Walk the Line, and TV series Sun Records and Bluff City Law, as well as many other productions both large and small. Projects shot in Memphis during her tenure have earned 24 Oscar nominations, three Oscar wins, six Indie Spirit nominations, and one Sundance Grand Jury Prize.
Memphis-born filmmaker Ira Sachs, whose film The Man I Love closed the 2026 Indie Memphis Film Festival, says, “Linn Sitler is Memphis filmmaking. You can’t separate the one from the other. For over forty years, she has been the soul and the heart of a vibrant filmmaking community in Memphis.”
“Linn Sitler has dedicated nearly 40 years to promoting Memphis and showcasing our local talent and creativity,” says Memphis Mayor Paul Young. “Her commitment to our city and her support of our creative community have helped bring the Memphis story to audiences around the world. We appreciate her many years of service and wish her all the best in retirement.”
