About

Johnny Symons is an Emmy-nominated independent documentarian whose films focus on social justice and LGBTQ issues. His film Daddy & Papa, about the personal, cultural, and political impact of gay men raising children, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, aired on PBS and international television, and garnered more than a dozen festival best documentary and audience awards. Ask Not, an award-winning feature-length documentary about the impact of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the US military, broadcast on PBS’ Independent Lens, and screened for Congress at the US Capitol. His feature documentary, Out Run, which profiles the only LGBTQ political party in the world, premiered at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and won Best Cinematography at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival before airing nationally on public television. His latest feature, Assembly, follows visionary artist Rashaad Newsome as he blends art, AI and performance to transform a historic military facility into a Black queer utopia. The film premieres at SXSW in 2025. Johnny’s work has screened at more than 200 international film festivals and is used by hundreds of college educators and community organizers.

Johnny is the co-producer of the Academy Award-nominated feature Long Night’s Journey Into Day, which won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at Sundance. His additional documentary producing work includes Pray Away (Executive Producer), Your Mother’s Comfort (Executive Producer), Ahead of the Curve (Consulting Producer) and Chasing Portraits (Consulting Producer).  He graduated with honors from Brown University and holds a master’s degree from Stanford University’s Documentary Film and Video Program. His work has received support from funders such as Sundance, Tribeca, ITVS, Catapult, HBO, Frameline, and the California Council for the Humanities, and he has served as a Fellow in the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program.

Currently, Johnny is a Professor in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University, where he coordinates the MFA program. He is also the director and co-founder of the Queer Cinema Project. He was Steering Committee Co-Chair and is a longstanding member-owner of New Day Films.

In 1993, Johnny founded Persistent Visions, a production company with a focus on social issue LGBTQ documentaries. Persistent Visions has released four feature documentaries and several shorts, each focusing on different cultural and political aspects of the LGBTQ experience.

Assembly (2025) – Producer/Director/Camera
Hands Performance (2023) – Producer
Build or Destroy (2021) – Producer
Hoodie (work-in-progress) — Producer/Director/Camera
Black Magic (2021) — Producer/Camera
Pray Away (2020) — Executive Producer
Your Mother’s Comfort (2020) — Executive Producer
Out Run (2016) — Producer/Director/Second Camera
Ask Not (2008) — Producer/Director/Camera
It’s STILL Elementary (2007) — Co-Director/Camera
Beyond Conception (2006) — Producer/Director/Camera
Daddy & Papa (2002) — Producer/Director/Camera
Beauty Before Age (1997) — Producer/Director/Camera
Shaving The Castro (1995) — Producer/Director/Camera
Out In Africa (1994) — Producer/Director/Camera

Selected Awards & Honors
Presidential Award, San Francisco State University
Groundbreaker Award for Commitment to LGBTQ Family Equality, Our Family Coalition
White House Guest, President Obama’s signing ceremony for “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal
Trailblazer Award for Excellence in Teaching, Art Institute of CA-San Francisco

Festival Awards & Honors

OUT RUN
Best Cinematography Award, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
Centerpiece Documentary, TWIST Seattle Queer Film Festival
Opening Night Film, &Proud LGBT Film Festival, Yangon, Myanmar

ASK NOT
Best Documentary, GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Awards
Audience Choice Award For Best Film, Spokane GLBT Film Festival
Audience Award For Best Documentary, Out Takes (New Zealand)
Selector’s Choice Award, Melbourne Queer Film Festival
Golden Gate Award Nominee, San Francisco International Film Festival

DADDY & PAPA
National Emmy Nomination, Best Documentary
Grand Jury Prize Nominee, Sundance Film Festival
Golden Gate Award, Best First Person Documentary, San Francisco International Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Documentary, Florida Film Festival
Best Documentary, Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
Best Documentary, Dallas Outtakes
Best Documentary, Connecticut Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Best Documentary, North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Best Documentary, University of Oregon Queer Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Feature, Out at the Movies
Audience Award for Best Film, Orinda Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Documentary, Orinda Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Documentary, Portland Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Independent Documentary, ImageOut/Rochester Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
Documentary Most Likely to Change The World, Detroit Docs Film Festival
Breaking The Mold Award, Newport Film Festival
Best Film, Runner Up, Cleveland International Film Festival
Audience Award For Best Documentary, 1st Runner Up, Seattle International Film Festival
Silver Certificate Of Merit, Prix Leonardo
Best Feature Documentary, Honorary Mention, Oakland International Film Festival
Special Mention, Icelandic Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
Official Selection, INPUT (International Public Television) Conference, Denmark
Outstanding Documentary Nominee, GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Awards

BEAUTY BEFORE AGE
Certificate of Merit, International Documentary Association
Gold Apple, National Educational Media Network
Grand Prize, University Of Oregon Queer Film Festival
Award of Recognition, Missouri Video Festival
Honorable Mention, Silver Images Film Festival

SHAVING THE CASTRO
Special Jury Prize: First Runner Up for Outstanding Film, In the Life Short Film and Video Competition

OUT IN AFRICA
Best Documentary, 10th Turin International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival

Summer Within (Story Consultant)
Ahead of the Curve (Consulting Producer)
Chasing Portraits (Consulting Producer/Camera)
Witness To Guantanamo (Artistic Director/Camera)
Patriot Guard Riders (Consulting Producer)
Stress: Portrait Of A Killer (Additional Camera)
Lost Boys Of Sudan (Additional Camera/Sound)
Bubbeh Lee And Me (Post Production Supervisor)
The Celluloid Closet (Production Assistant)