Biography

Summer Joy "SJ" Main Muñoz is a highly visual Costa Rican-American filmmaker whose award-winning TV directing and short films, often in the historical, Western, or crime drama genres, have screened worldwide and garnered numerous awards. An "Actor's Director," Main Muñoz has directed prolific icons such as Edward James Olmos, David Boreanaz, Colman Domingo, Melissa Roxburgh, Oliver Platt, Chris Mulkey, Willa Fitzgerald, Nestor Carbonell, and Justina Machado.

Main Muñoz received her Bachelor's degree magna cum laude in Theater Directing and Acting from UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television. She graduated with Honors from Columbia University of New York with a Master's in Film Directing, and she also holds a doctorate (summa cum laude) in Communications from the European Graduate School of Switzerland where she studied with Atom Egoyan, Claire Denis, and Magarethe Von Trotta. Main Muñoz joined the Directors Guild of America in 2020 and has since served as two-time Co-Chair of the DGA Latino Committee and is an Alternate Member of the DGA's National Board of Directors. She was invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 2020 where she is also an active Leader-Member.

Main Muñoz worked in production for nearly 20 years in roles including VFX Supervisor, Director of Development, and Production Supervisor before transitioning to directing professionally full-time. She has worked closely with Merchant Ivory Productions, Walden Media, River Road, and director Stanley Donen ("Singin' in the Rain").

Raised in Cambria, California, Main Muñoz built her resilience surfing cold and large Pacific swells, and she discovered her visual language among the fog-swept cypress groves.
- IMDb mini biography by: CAA