Theo Kingma, longtime Golden Globes voter, died at his home on March 21, 2025.

Since 2017, Kingma served as CEO of Film Expo Group, which organizes ShowEast in Miami, CineEurope in Barcelona, and CineAsia in Bangkok. He also continued to serve as a voter for the Golden Globes and was a founding member of the Golden Globe Foundation. He was also a successful photographer for many decades.

Kingma was born in Amsterdam to Henk and Nel Kingma on February 25, 1967. He is survived by his mother, his sister Tessa and his niece Sveva.

Kingma began his career as a projectionist at cinemas in Amsterdam. He followed this to the world of film by working as a production assistant on several Dutch films and then on Robert Altman’s “Vincent & Theo,” which was filmed in part in the Netherlands. Kingma then moved to Hollywood in 1989 to further pursue his craft.

In Hollywood, he was a correspondent for the Dutch magazine Hitkrant. He joined the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1992 and remained active for many years; quickly becoming a well-known photographer at motion picture premieres, press conferences and other Hollywood events. He served on the HFPA board of directors multiple times and was elected president twice, serving from 2013 to 2015.

During his time as president, Kingma introduced innovations to the Association such as the Association’s participation at Comic-Con in San Diego and roundtable interviews with a broad range of non-entertainment individuals such as Lech Walesa, Julian Assange and Niki Lauda.

While he was HFPA president, France suffered the attack at the Charlie Hebdo publication in Paris just days before the 2015 Golden Globes. During the Globes broadcast that year, 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.”

Kingma was an active supporter of Golden Globes’ philanthropy program and led efforts for 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.

Kingma continued to be active as a photographer and his pictures appeared regularly in publications in The Netherlands, Germany and Australia. He organized World Press Photo contest exhibitions in Beverly Hills twice. And he loved visiting and photographing Cuba.

Donations in his memory may be made to Pablove Shutterbugs Photography Program, an organization to which Kingma contributed frequently, at https://www.pablove.org/shutterbugs/