American Documentary Promotes Industry Veteran Robert Salyer to Director of Outreach & Impact

New York, N.Y. – December 11, 2025 – American Documentary (AmDoc), the award-winning nonprofit behind public media series POV, POV Shorts, and America ReFramed announced the promotion of Robert Salyer to the newly created position of Director of Outreach & Impact. A seasoned filmmaker, producer, community organizer and educator, he has had a long relationship with AmDoc that precedes him joining the team. This includes his work on the duPont-Columbia Award-winning Class of ‘27  that aired on America ReFramed and as co-producer on Portraits and Dreams which premiered in 2020 as part of POV’s 32nd season. Salyer officially joined AmDoc’s POV Engage team in 2021 as the Outreach Specialist after supporting the organization’s ‘Our America: Documentary in Dialogue’ campaign to align films with PBS stations in Appalachia. He arrived at a critical time during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when the department was pivoting to virtual screenings and he helped to reshape approaches to training and facilitating programs to meet the needs of communities and partners.

In 2022, Robert was promoted to POV Manager of Outreach & Impact where he executed national outreach and partnership development for film-specific campaigns, mentored the department's interns and represented the organization at film festivals, convenings and documentary workshops. He continues to refine and expand the mission of the ‘Our America’ project, an initiative that empowers PBS stations and local partners to champion civil, civic dialogue about issues that matter to their communities. He is currently working with four public media station cohorts to support the ninth iteration of ‘Our America’ which helps to develop programs around films from POV’s 38th season. Additionally, Robert is leading efforts to better evaluate the impact of department initiatives and film campaigns. 

Robert has been instrumental in promoting AmDoc and POV in communities around the country and, in New York, he has been a fixture at industry festivals, and POV screenings. For the last two years he has been the Master of Ceremonies for the organization’s annual GalaFest (2025 event was co-hosted with comedian and filmmaker, Arlieta Hall) where he kept the evening in high spirits. 

“I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to continue the vital work of AmDoc. This year has been, by any measure, challenging, and the defunding of public media has made this a moment of real uncertainty,” said Robert Salyer. “But it has also sharpened our focus, and I am committed to furthering our work to bring our films into communities around the country. I feel privileged to serve this mission alongside my colleagues, and I am excited for what’s next.”

“This promotion is well-deserved and is a recognition for Robert’s accomplishments which include leading the ‘Our America’ initiative, his mentorship and support of our department interns, as well as the problem-solving and research that Robert executed in building our audience surveys which are collected at POV Community Network screening events held across the country,” said Asad Muhammad, Vice President of Impact and Engagement Strategy. “Robert consistently brings a level of thoughtfulness and organization to our impact and engagement work that is valued by not just our team and org, but valued by our diverse set of community partners, station staff, and filmmakers.” 

Robert has over twenty-five years of experience working in documentary film and community media. He began as a filmmaker and member of Appalshop, Inc., the renowned media arts and education organization. During his fifteen years at Appalshop, he directed and produced film projects centered on Appalachian culture, was an instructor for the youth training program, contributed to the management of the community radio station, and was directly involved in the governance of the organization. Concurrent to his time at Appalshop, he collaborated extensively with the American Festival Project, a cultural exchange and community building program, leading efforts to connect artists and filmmakers interested in making work in and around the region. Robert’s work has screened across the U.S. and abroad, and has been included in exhibitions such as MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight and the Film Festival Dokumenter in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. 

Robert was also the lead facilitator for an international media exchange project involving emerging Indonesian media makers funded by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs. Among his other experiences, Robert has worked as a community organizer with the Virginia Organizing Project, taught documentary filmmaking at Kentucky State University, and was a mentor for the NYU Tisch School Immersion Program. Most recently, he served as a guest lecturer at the New York Film Academy, offering students an inside look at how public media and community-driven engagement shape the documentary landscape. Alongside his role at AmDoc, he works as a consulting producer, supporting documentary films across all phases of development. He currently resides in upstate New York where he continues his lifelong avocation of beekeeping.  

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