SJ MAIN MUNOZ
Summer-Joy “SJ” Main Muñoz is an award-winning director, writer, and producer whose films have screened in over 200 festivals worldwide. She has been selected for numerous competitive film labs and fellowships, including NBC's Female Forward, Ryan Murphy's Half Initiative, We For She's Direct Her, and programs by NALIP, WGAW, WIF, AWD, and FIND. Before dedicating herself full-time to directing in the dramatic, historical and action/crime genres, SJ worked as a producer, unit production manager, production supervisor, coordinator, director of development, script editor, post supervisor, and executive assistant for film and commercials. She has worked with filmmakers and companies including Merchant Ivory Productions, Amblin, River Road Entertainment, and award-winning director Stanley Donen.
As a second-generation Costa Rican-American determined to increase Latino representation in film and TV, SJ has written for the Huffington Post on the subjects of Latino Film and Women in Media, and she was the Founder of the former Latino Film Fund and Latino Screenplay Competition. SJ has also lectured at Loyola Marymount University on the roles of the film director and producer.
SJ received her BA from UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film and Television in Directing and Acting, where she was the recipient of the James Bridges Excellence Award for Acting. She holds an MFA from Columbia University’s Graduate Film Program of New York and a PhD in Media and Communications from the European Graduate School of Switzerland. She is a proud member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA), the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Television Academy), and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).
SJ was raised in Cambria, California. She is Costa Rican-American, and is a resident of both the US and Costa Rica.
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