Jon Gann is a film producer and director, creating award-winning commercial, documentary and narrative films since 2000. His latest documentary, "Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color" about the often overlooked DC-based Black Woman artist, was created for a gallery retrospective which is traveling to museums around the country. The film in the midst of a wide film festival circuit, and had garnered numerous awards.

Jon has been a force in the film festival world, having created, consulted with and fostered dozens of events around the globe. He is the Founder of DC Shorts, a non-profit organization championing short filmmaking, and the creator of the DC Shorts Film Festival, one of the country’s premier short film showcases. Jon is also a founding Board Member and former Executive Director of the Film Festival Alliance, the first organization to professionalize the festival space, and a recently finished 10-years as the senior Advisory Board member at George Mason University’s School of Film & Video Studies.

His books are staples for filmmakers and events organizers alike. “Behind the Screens: Programmers Reveal How Film Festivals Really Work” examines how programmers and organizers curate, collect, watch and select films for their festivals, with frank insights reveal the inner-workings of an industry that is often misunderstood. His follow-up tome, “So You Wanna Start a Film Festival,” explores the trials and tribulations of starting a new event, with lessons from both for- and non-profit festivals.

Jon has received the Television and Internet Video Association’s (TIVA) Community Partner Award, has been recognized by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities as an Artists’ Fellow. He has presented at over 120 universities, film organizations and film festivals worldwide, and has spoken at the International Film Festival Summit, Art House Convergence, and TEDxWDC. Jon has also created theatrical projects for the Capital Fringe Festival, and produced major live events for companies and organizations around the country.