Johnny Symons is an Emmy-nominated independent film and
videomaker based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His documentary
Daddy & Papa (2002), about the personal, cultural, and
political impact of gay men raising children, premiered at
Sundance, aired on PBS and international television, and garnered
multiple Best Documentary awards. His newest film, Ask Not (2008),
an award-winning feature-length documentary about the impact of the
"don't ask, don't tell" policy in the US
military, broadcast in 2009 on PBS' Independent
Lens.
Symons is the co-producer of the Academy Award-nominated Long
Night's Journey Into Day (2000), about South
Africa's search for truth and reconciliation, which won
the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film
Festival. His work has screened at more than 200 international film
festivals and is used by hundreds of college educators and
community organizers. Symons graduated with honors from Brown
University and has a master's in documentary production
from Stanford University. He teaches film in various Bay Area
institutions, including Stanford, University of San Francisco,
California College of the Arts, San Francisco State University, and
the Art Institute of California--San Francisco.
