Josh Foster
When the Highlands-Cashiers Film Festival returns this September, it won’t feel like a second act. It will feel like momentum.
What began as a promising debut is quickly settling into something more deliberate – more connected, more self-assured, and increasingly built to last.
A key force behind that evolution is Josh Foster, a new addition whose influence arrives less with fanfare than with quiet authority.
Foster now leads the festival’s Industry Council, bringing with him a perspective shaped not just by filmmaking, but by the infrastructure that sustains it.
A Spartanburg, South Carolina, native now living on New York’s Lower East Side, Foster bridges two worlds with ease. He’s a writer, director, and producer trained at NYU Tisch, where he earned the Media Services Award for producing an exceptional body of work – an early sign that his interests extended beyond storytelling into the systems that make storytelling possible.
That dual focus defines his career. Alongside his creative work, Foster holds an IMBA and a degree from the University of South Carolina, grounding his instincts in both vision and viability.
Today, he works at Cinetic Media, an influential film finance and advisory firm long associated with projects that shape the independent landscape. It’s a vantage point where art collides with economics, where ideas either find traction or stall – and where Foster has developed a fluency in both.
His producing credits reflect that reach: Blue Moon, the Academy Award–nominated film from Richard Linklater, alongside Old Dads from Bill Burr, Little Rootie Tootie, and Nothing But Net. The company he represents has helped shepherd films like Parasite, Carol, and Summer of Soul into the cultural conversation.
But for Foster, Highlands-Cashiers is not about résumé lines. It’s something closer to home.
“I grew up not far from here,” he said. “There’s a natural connection, both to the place and to the people who are telling stories from it.”
That connection extends to the Festival’s creative director Joy Jorgensen, a former NYU classmate and fellow Southerner.
Together, they share a belief that regional storytelling isn’t peripheral, it’s foundational.
“Regional festivals are part of the industry’s fabric,” Foster said. “For many filmmakers, it’s the first time their work meets an audience. That moment matters. It builds momentum – and momentum builds careers.”
He’s equally clear-eyed about the broader impact. A well-built festival doesn’t just elevate filmmakers; it draws industry attention, fuels local economies, and introduces new audiences to places like Highlands and Cashiers – places rarely centered but deeply felt.
Now, as the festival enters its second year, the task is less about proving concept and more about building staying power. That means preserving the intimacy that defined its debut while expanding its reach and credibility.
Foster is well-suited to that balance. He understands what filmmakers carry with them – finished films paired with unanswered questions. He understands, too, how industry professionals decide what’s worth their time.
And perhaps most importantly, he speaks both languages: the personal and the professional, the small-town screening and the global marketplace.
This September, that combination may be the festival’s quiet advantage. It won’t be loudly announced, but unmistakably felt.
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