The District of Columbia Office of Motion Picture and Television Development (MPTD) is pleased to recognize award-winning writer, producer and director Sonya Dunn, as the June Filmmaker of the Month.
Sonya Dunn operates and manages a full-service, DC-based production company, JEMH Entertainment, that has several interactive and transmedia projects in development: feature length films, novels, graphic novels, websites, plays, musicals and scripted and unscripted programming. Her film The Bedroom served as her directorial debut, which was selected and screened at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
Sonya also has received a number of honors and awards as a writer and producer. Her feature screenplay for Byker Chyck was honored as a finalist for Best Feature Screenplay at the LA Femme International Film Festival (2014) and was featured in the Women in Film and Video (WIFV) Spotlight on Screenwriting Catalog (2014). She also won Best Comedy Web Series at the LA WebFest (2013) as a producer of Sista Wives and won the award for Best DC Web Series & People Choice at this year’s DC Web Fest as a producer of The Beat & Path: WOS.
Sonya is also the president and chairman of the Board of Directors for Arlington Independent Media, a nonprofit media corporation, cable channel and training center for media content creators in film, cable and web programming. Currently, she is overseeing the development and implementation of a radio station to provide curriculum and training in sound editing, music creation, and audio content programming.
Additionally, Sonya is at the helm of a women's initiative transmedia project called Distaff. Distaff consists of several media platforms integrated in a digital hub network, In Her Words, which highlights the accomplishments and advancement of women in media. Dunn also recently launched a web channel for underrepresented groups within the disability community called Enable Channel.
Sonya lives in Ward 8 of the District of Columbia with her husband and four kids.
MPTD launched the Filmmaker of the Month initiative to feature a District-based filmmaker who exemplifies the vast amount of talent and creativity based here in the nation’s capital. The Filmmaker of the Month initiative is part of MPTD’s mission to elevate the national and international profile of the city’s most talented filmmakers. Previous filmmakers honored include ThinkFilm producer Jonathan Zurer; Fatback Films Founder Be Steadwell; From the Rough director, writer and producer Pierre Bagley; and Veteran award-winning husband and wife filmmakers Marilyn and Hal Weiner.
You can visit the Filmmaker of the Month section to learn more about Sonya and previous Filmmaker of the Month recipients.