Jon Gann, a gay, Jewish, native Washingtonian, is a film producer and director, creating award-winning commercial, documentary and narrative films since 2000. His most recent award-winning productions include the feature documentary “Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection”, exploring the singer’s career and struggles through never-heard recordings, and the short documentary, “Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color,” detailing the incredible life of the DC-based Black Woman abstractionist painter. He is the Founder of DC Shorts, a non-profit organization championing short filmmaking, and the creator of the DC Shorts Film Festival. Jon is also a founding Board Member and former Executive Director of the Film Festival Alliance, the first organization to professionalize the festival space.