Nashville is putting a renewed focus on the people and industries behind its reputation as a creative city, with Mayor Freddie O’Connell appointing Dr. Sarah Childress as executive director of the newly established Office of Entertainment.
Childress will begin Aug. 31, bringing experience spanning public television, film, music, advertising, higher education and arts programming to an office designed to serve as an advocate for Nashville’s creative community within Metro government.
O’Connell announced the appointment Aug. 6 as he joined Metro Council member Terri Vo and Nashville Entertainment Commission Vice Chair Jeffry Gordon to sign BL2026-1431. Sponsored by Vo, the legislation formally establishes the Office of Entertainment within the Mayor’s Office and provides a more permanent structure for its work.
“Today marks a new beginning for our Office of Entertainment, the Entertainment Commission, and for how Nashville supports our creative community,” O’Connell said. “It took a lot of work from many people to get us here and we’re looking forward to having the Office of Entertainment on solid footing, with a new executive director supported by the Mayor’s Office team.”
The move comes as Nashville continues to build an economy and international identity extending beyond its famous country music industry. Musicians, filmmakers, producers, visual artists, television professionals and other creative workers contribute to the city’s cultural identity and economic vitality.
For Childress, supporting those workers will be central to the office’s mission.
“Nashville’s identity, and its reputation worldwide, rests on what its creatives produce here,” Childress said. “The city’s continued success depends on those individuals being able to build sustainable careers in the city they call home.”
She described the Office of Entertainment as an advocate for those workers within Metro government and said her first priority will be listening to the people already working throughout Nashville’s creative industries.
“My job starts with listening, to the people doing this work every day, and to the organizations already studying what this community needs and building the programs to meet those needs,” Childress said.
O’Connell said Childress emerged from a search conducted with the Nashville Entertainment Commission, which recommended two finalists.
“The Entertainment Commission put forward two excellent finalists,” O’Connell said. “Dr. Childress is the right leader to build the relationships and trust needed to amplify the great work already happening in entertainment in our city.”
Childress most recently served as director of Strategy & Operations at Nashville PBS, where she also worked with independent producers to distribute programming to public television audiences nationally.
Before joining Nashville PBS, she became the first Education and Engagement manager for the Nashville Film Festival. There, she created the festival’s education and engagement program and, according to the Mayor’s Office, increased community participation by 300% over three years.
Her work included partnerships with Metro Nashville Public Schools, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and the Frist Art Museum, as well as efforts to incorporate film programming into middle- and high-school curricula.
Childress has also worked as an artist manager, film producer, cinema studies professor and advertising executive. Her career has included large advertising agencies, smaller creative companies, freelance and startup ventures, higher education and nonprofit organizations.
She said that varied experience has given her an understanding of the challenges involved in developing and sustaining creative projects at different levels.
“Supporting and building appreciation for our creative community is my life’s passion, and I’m excited to serve this community as the new executive director of the Office of Entertainment,” Childress said. “That starts by listening, learning, and showing the people who do this work that we care and are going to create something impactful, together.”
Childress also credited members of the Nashville Entertainment Commission for advocating over the years for the city’s creative community and thanked Max Butler, who led the search for the office’s new executive director.
The legislation signed by O’Connell gives the office a stronger foundation within Metro government after its funding was restored. Childress said that structure provides an opportunity to build an office capable of supporting Nashville’s creative economy over the long term.
While Nashville’s entertainment identity has traditionally been synonymous with music, the industries contributing to the city’s creative economy have become increasingly diverse. Childress’ appointment reflects an effort to take a broader approach to how Metro works with those industries and the people who make their careers within them.
For Childress, the ultimate measure of that effort will be whether Nashville remains a place where creative professionals can not only produce their work, but build sustainable lives and careers.
“I’m honored by their confidence in me, and I look forward to working alongside them,” Childress said of the Entertainment Commission. “Let’s get to work.”
