Theo Kingma, the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association from 2013 to 2015, died unexpectedly Friday, March 21, at his home in Los Angeles. He was 58.
His death was announced by publicist Katie Kornfield.
Born in Amsterdam on February 25, 1967, Kingma began his professional film career as a projectionist at cinemas in Amsterdam, later working as a production assistant on several Dutch films and on Robert Altman’s Vincent & Theo, which was filmed in part in the Netherlands and released in 1990. The experience of working on the Altman film inspired Kingma to move to Hollywood in 1989.
In Hollywood, Kingma was a correspondent for the Dutch magazine Hitkrant, and he joined the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1992. He remained active in HFPA for many years, serving on the organization’s Board of Directors multiple times in addition to the two years as president.
During his time as HFPA President, Kingma led the discussions that ended the long-running dispute between HFPA and dick clark productions over production of the Golden Globes. He began the Association’s participation at Comic-Con in San Diego, introduced roundtable interviews with a broad range of non-entertainment subjects such as Lech Walesa, Julian Assange and Niki Lauda, and supported HFPA member attendance at set visits and long lead press conferences.
During the Globes broadcast in 2015, just days after the terrorist attack at the Charlie Hebdo publication offices in Paris, Kingma spoke out in support of freedom of speech and the protection of journalism: “The freedom of artistic expression… is a beacon across the globe… We stand united everywhere from North Korea to Paris,” he said.
Kingma was an active supporter of HFPA’s philanthropy program and led efforts for HFPA to make a $2 million donation to Los Angeles City College to support its Cinema and Television program. Kingma went on to serve on the LACC Foundation board of directors for many years.
Since 2017, Kingma has served as CEO of Film Expo Group, which organizes ShowEast in Miami, CineEurope in Barcelona, and CineAsia in Bangkok. He also has continued to serve as a voter for the Golden Globes and was a founding member of the Golden Globe Foundation.
Kingma also became a well-known photographer at motion picture premieres, press conferences and other Hollywood events. He continued to be active as a photographer and his pictures have appeared regularly in publications in The Netherlands, Germany and Australia.
He is survived by his mother Nel Kingma, his sister Tessa and his niece Sveva.
