BLACK MAGIC, a new performance video celebrating Black queer resiliency and strength by Rashaad Newsome, premiered in January at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in NYC, followed by a screening at Kampnagel in Hamburg, Germany. Johnny Symons was producer and DP.
Footage of Rashaad Newsome’s “Black Magic” will be projected on Times Square billboards just before midnight every evening in December. On December 10th, “Black Magic” will be performed live at Times Square, while the multichannel presentation of “Black Magic” is illuminating on the screens. This performance was captured for Johnny …
Congratulations to Your Mother’s Comfort for winning Best Documentary Feature at Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival. Your Mother’s Comfort, executive produced by Johnny Symons and directed by Adam Golub, had its world premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the premiere was virtual.
Pray Away, directed by Kristine Stolakis and executive produced by Johnny Symons, premieres at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival. The feature documentary chronicles former leaders of the “pray the gay away” movement as they contend with the aftermath unleashed by their actions, and follows a survivor who seeks healing and acceptance after more than …
Johnny Symons and Rashaad Newsome present a short work-in-progress clip of their documentary Get Your 10s at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco. After the screening, legendary New York vogue dancer and film subject Omari Oricci Wiles led a vogue workshop.
Johnny Symons receives a grant from Catapult Film Fund for Hoodie. Catapult gives early support to propel projects forward that hold the promise of a story that should be uniquely told in film.
Five projects focusing on the American West including HOODIE have been selected to enter the IF/Then pitch competition sponsored by Tribeca Film Institute at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. The pitch will take place at UC Theater on the University of Montana Campus in Missoula, Montana from 3:00 pm – 5:00 …
Cinema student Jon Ayon takes home first prize for his film SOMBRAS, which he produced in Johnny’s documentary thesis class at SFSU. The film was selected out of over 1000 entries to play during the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, where it won over a juried panel for its exemplary craft …
Johnny’s two films about gay parenting got two thumbs up in the most recent issue of Reproductive Biomedicine and Society Online. In an article titled ‘Documenting gay dads: Seven documentaries about gay fatherhood in North America,’ reproductive sociologist Linda Layne calls Beyond Conception “excellent” and Daddy & Papa “beautifully crafted …
Johnny’s latest film, Out Run, will have its premiere in the Philippines at the QCinema Film Festival in Quezon City. Join Johnny and directing/producing partner Leo Chiang on October 19-26 as they present Out Run alongside the LGBTQ activists featured in the documentary. Please note screening schedule: 10/23 (Mon) 8:30pm …
