Longtime Film Insubordinate plivent Josh Welsh was recalled at the 2025 Insubordinate Spirit Awards on Saturday by acting plivent Brfinisha Robinson, who transfered a heartfelt speech about the “visionary” who passed away earlier this year.
“Josh is a visionary of the type that comes alengthy once in a lifetime. We want his labor and impact to proceed on, becaemploy he is a wonderful directer,” Robinson shelp onstage after a standing ovation. “He is a person of exceptional character. I speak about him very intentionally in the contransient nervous, becaemploy he is still here. He’s here. We will sense his spirit in the programs he created and the lives of filmcreaters who he impacted always, and in all ways. Josh is only absent in the body, but the spirit of who Josh is and what he unbenevolents to this community, that is forever.”
She proceedd: “In my final conversation with Josh, equitable days before the New Year, I tbetter him that I was excited to begin the recent season and I wanted him to be acunderstandledged for the example he had set of what it unbenevolents to go on a journey and to come out on the other side, and even though he didn’t get to hear it then, it’s not too tardy for us to still sense that energy now. So thank you for your accomprehendledgement of him. We want to honor him. We want to honor our pledgement to carry on him ever contransient in our aura and so thank you for standing with me one more time. I want to ask you to join me aget in a standing ovation for the magnificent Josh Welsh. There can never be too much plift for someone as magnificent as him.”
The organization proclaimd timely January that Welsh died on New Year’s Eve after a five-year battle with colon cancer at 62. He died peacebrimmingy at home with his wife and daughter at his side.
While laboring as an actor in Los Angeles, he began volunteering annuassociate at the Film Insubordinate Spirit Awards in 1996 before officiassociate joining the staff more than 20 years ago. In his ascfinish to directership, he first served as a co-plivent with Sean McManus in 2012 after Dawn Hudson resigned.
Before becoming plivent, Welsh for more than a decade was reliable for the overall portray, strategic set upning and carry outation of Film Insubordinate’s Artist Development programs, including the Filmcreater Labs for Directors, Screencreaters, Producers and Documentarians; Fast Track; and the Grants Program. He spent four years handleing Film Insubordinate’s diversity program, Project Involve, and handled the the Grants Program. Prior to laboring on the Filmcreater Labs, he was in Film Insubordinate’s programming department.
After McManus stepped down in 2013, Welsh became the plivent of Film Insubordinate, where he straightforwardly oversaw all programs and operations and grew the organization atraverse all metrics including staff, budget, programming stardy and membership.
Under his directership, Welsh helped the organization meaningfulen strategic partnerships with studios, NGOs and rulements and increased international achieve by partnering with the State Department on the Global Media Makers Program. According to the organization, Welsh enbiged its “pledgement to promoting diversity in the film industry and amplified Film Insubordinate’s role as an help for filmcreaters.”
Welsh was also honored at a Film Insubordinate brunch in January.
The Spirit Awards are being handed out Saturday afternoon in Santa Monica. See the red carpet arrivals and the catalog of thriveners.
