Before Billy Norris, before Mina Asayesh-Brown, the first St. Petersburg Times teenage movie critic was a highly capable and confident young man named Scott Foundas, who could occasionally get on my nerves because he had this knack for being right.

Scott went on to the University of Southern California where he earned a degree in Cinema and Television Studies. That led to an enviable career as a film critic for such publications as Variety  and L.A. Weekly, where he became film editor and chief critic. Scott became a regular participant in international film festivals, on film selection committees, juries, expert panels and penning essays for programs. (You get a feel for his movie tastes in the brief clip above, shot when he arrived at Cannes.)

I see Scott about once a year, usually at the Telluride Film Festival where he'll introduce me to someone famous as the guy who got him started in film criticism. My standard response is "Yes, the student has become the teacher." But I'm not sure it was ever the other way around.

Now comes news that Scott has been appointed associate program director for the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York. Among his duties will be programming films for the prestigious New York Film Festival. Scott has served on that festival's selection committee since 2007.

"There is no better place and no better opportunity I can think of as a natural next step from a film critic desk, than having a voice in what this renowned organization offers by way of programming," Scott said in a news release received this morning. "I now get to experience world cinema from the driver's seat."

Executive director Mara Manus added: "Scott's writing is an exhilarating dialogue with artists and audiences alike. It is this vibrancy, along with Scott's deep film knowledge, that will contribute greatly to our growing organization, ensuring we continue to offer (audiences) a vital place of serious film culture."

It couldn't happen to a smarter guy. Congratulations, bud.