Biography

Johnny Symons is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker whose work explores LGBTQ+ issues and social justice. He began his career in the 1990s with independent films such as Out in Africa and Beauty Before Age, which examined queer lives across cultural and generational lines. In 2000, he co-produced Long Night's Journey Into Day, which was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize. His directorial work includes Daddy & Papa (2002), which premiered at Sundance and aired internationally; Ask Not (2008), which broadcast nationally on PBS; and Out Run (2016), which premiered at Full Frame. His latest film, Assembly, premiered at SXSW in 2025. Symons has also worked as a creative executive producer on the Netflix documentary Pray Away (2020) and the Outfest award-winning Your Mother's Comfort (2020). Johnny is a Documentary Branch member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and has served as a Sundance Fellow. He is a Professor and MFA Program Coordinator in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University.
- IMDb mini biography by: Johnny Symons