Biography

Shawn Fornari, a Western Pennsylvania native, has been directing films since he was 8 years old. At that tender age, Mr. Fornari fell in love with the art of storytelling through the lens of a camera... a love which has grown stronger through the years. In his youth, his dream of making movies often found him in tricky situations, including getting kicked out of a cemetery by an irate grounds keeper. Not to be deterred, his almost obsessive film attraction led the twenty-one year old kid from Nanty-Glo, Pennsylvania to New York City for an internship with American Masters at WNET/Thirteen. During his tenure at the station, Fornari gained extensive knowledge in documentary film making and narrative storytelling. He was a production assistant on several biographies, one of which was of the late Rod Serling of The Twilight Zone. While an intern at PBS, Shawn worked on respected programs such as the Charlie Rose Show and The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour. In addition, he worked with Director Mathew Diamond (Golden Girls) on a show entitled Dinner with Balanchine at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in Manhattan.

In 1994, Shawn moved to Florida and began working for both Disney and Universal Studios in a variety of production capacities. He earned a reputation for being one of the top assistant directors in central Florida.

The year 1999 saw Shawn moving to Los Angeles to further pursue his dream of directing. During his years in the film capital of the world, he would create over a dozen film projects and work with many top industry artists including Tom Hanks, Rod Lurie, Martin Sheen, Ryan O'Neal, and Dustin Hoffman. He continued his formal education and received an M.F.A. in film with a concentration on screen writing at Chapman University. While at Chapman, he had the opportunity to study under action film director John Badham (Saturday Night Fever, War Games, Blue Thunder, Short Circuit, and The Jack Bull) and TV director Gilbert Bettman (Knight Rider, The Fall Guy, B.J. and the Bear and the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries). Recently, an unexpected film related opportunity brought Shawn back to Florida. In 2012, he became an instructor at the Burt Reynolds Institute of Film & Theater located in Jupiter, where he teaches a workshop for master screenwriters. Shawn believes that to do a great job behind the camera, a director must understand what is going on in front of the camera. To that end, he also participates as a student in acting classes offered at The Institute. Shawn is an expert at getting strong performances from his actors and is known for his "eye" in capturing the best scenes on film.

On September 1, 2012, Shawn published his book, " Writing YOUR story for the BIG Screen." The book is a step by step guide for writing and work-shopping a screenplay from conception to completion.

As of today Shawn has written and directed over fifty films, commercials and infomercials. He completed his doctorate degree in 2014 with emphasis on stress and Hollywood film directors. In his spare time, he is actively involved as a freelance filmmaker, utilizing beautiful south Florida as background for his projects.

Shawn is a member of the American Film Institute, Screen Actors Guild, National Education Association of America, and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Engineers. He has a bachelor degree in Communications Media and Social Science Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He earned his Master's Degree in Film from Chapman University, Southern California.

In 2012, Shawn joined the creative film team at G Star, a top rated film school and teaches "Acting for the Camera and Directing Actors. The school is located in Palm Springs, Florida.

Shawn, being from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and raised by a grandfather who was Tri-County President of the UMWA, is a very strong advocate for public education and labor movements. He is a United Teachers of Los Angeles Union Representative. He is known for being aggressive toward bullies in leadership positions. He has a doctorate in Leadership. He represents all Los Angeles unified school district Teachers.

He performs stand up comedy in Los Angeles. Shawn played a republican husband in a Kamala Harris Ad in October, 2024 which went viral. The commercial, "What Happens In The Booth, Stays In The Booth" reached a wide audience across the nation and even internationally. It encouraged political discussion and promoted "pro-choice."

Shawn is single father to Dalton Fornari. The family resides in Chatsworth, California.
- IMDb mini biography by: Suzanne Laface