Suzanne Luna is an American producer and director best known for The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[1]

Suzanne Luna
Born
Alma materAdelphi University
Occupation(s)producer, director, writer
Years active1988 – present
OrganizationUnperfect Productions
Notable workThe Ellen DeGeneres Show
Momhead
AwardsDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show/Entertainment (2014) (2015) (2017)

Early life and influences

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Luna was born in Queens, NY and raised on Long Island, New York, where she attended Lynbrook Senior High School in Long Island, New York. She then earned a degree at Adelphi University with a major in film and television and a minor in French.

Career

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Luna is best known for producing The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In 2010, she served as the field segment director on four episodes before producing the series for the following seven years. In 2014,[2][3][4] 2015,[5][6][7] and 2017, she won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show/Entertainment for producing and directing the show.

She began her career in New York City, where she directed full-length plays on Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway and served as script supervisor for top commercial directors in both New York and Los Angeles. She then transitioned to filmmaking and began her own directing career.

In 2003, Luna was named by Boards Magazine as "One of the Next 20 Directors to Watch". Jonathan Whitehead stated in an interview, "Suzanne Luna's body of work is all light hearted, tongue in cheek, humor. She has a touch for getting a great performance and good comedic timing out of a talent performance project."

In 2013, Unperfect Productions, the all-female production company formed by Suzanne Luna and Johanna Stein,[8] produced the 24-episode series Life of Mom with Johanna Stein for Yahoo!. In 2014, they produced the viral video Momhead. Luna directed and edited the 2014 viral comedy video Momhead. It received over 2.7 million views on YouTube[9] and was featured on CNN,[10] The TODAY Show,[11] The Huffington Post,[12] and The Doctors.[13]

In 2016, they produced the 18-episode series JoJoHead in collaboration with Warner Bros.' Blue Ribbon Content digital studio, for which Luna served as director and executive producer.[14] The show features comedic vignettes about the life of an everyday woman and is a prequel to Momhead.[15] Both Momhead and JoJoHead were filmed from a bird's eye view using a GoPro camera on top of Stein's head.[16] JoJoHead was released on CW Seed, The CW's streaming platform, in 2016.[17] It was also promoted through weekly Instagram Stories on the CW Seed's Instagram account.[16] That same year, Unperfect Productions also produced One in a Million, a public service announcement to raise awareness about domestic violence.[18]

In 2017, Luna produced It's Illogical, a series of public service announcements that highlight the illogicality of sexual assault.[19] The series was produced by 101-North for It's On Us, the organization created by Joe Biden to stop sexual assault. The spots received over 15 million views globally.[20][21][22]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Note(s)
1988 Last Rites Production Assistant
2005 Beautiful Things Director, producer Short Film
2008 Ellen's Even Bigger Really Big Show Segment Director TV movie
2009 Ellen's Bigger, Longer, and Wilder Show Field Producer TV movie
2011 Untitled Bethenny Frankel Talk Show Producer TV movie
2013 Life of Mom with Johanna Stein Director, executive producer Video
2014 Momhead Director, editor Video
2016 One in a Million PSA Director, writer (lyrics), producer Video / PSA
2017 It's Illogical PSA Producer Video / PSA

Television

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Year Title Role Note(s)
2010–17 The Ellen DeGeneres Show Producer (TV series), Field Segment Director 134 episodes

Won: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show/Entertainment (2014) (2015) (2017)

2014 Kevin Nealon's Laugh Lessons Supervising Producer Episode: "Adam Sandler"
2016 JoJoHead Director, executive producer 18 episodes

[8][9]

Awards and nominations

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Year Nominee / work Award Result
2014 The Ellen DeGeneres Show Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show/Entertainment Won[23]
2015 Won[24]
2017 Won[24]
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References

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  1. ^ "Unit 5 Productions Signs Five Directors – Studio Daily". Studio Daily. January 16, 2008. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  2. ^ "2014 Daytime Emmy Nominees Announced". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  3. ^ Littleton, Shelli Weinstein, Cynthia (June 22, 2014). "Daytime Emmy Awards: 'Young and the Restless,' 'Ellen DeGeneres,' Steve Harvey Among Top Winners at Raucous Ceremony (FULL LIST)". Variety. Retrieved November 25, 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (May 1, 2014). "'Young & the Restless' Leads 41st Annual Daytime Emmy Noms (COMPLETE LIST)". Variety. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  5. ^ Bloom, David (April 27, 2015). "Daytime Emmy Awards Winners – Best Drama A Tie As 'Y&R,' 'General Hospital' Win Three Each". Deadline. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  6. ^ Pedersen, Erik (March 31, 2015). "CBS, 'General Hospital' Lead Daytime Emmy Noms". Deadline. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  7. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (March 31, 2015). "'General Hospital,' Ellen DeGeneres, CBS Lead Daytime Emmy Nominations". Variety. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Unperfect Productions, producers of Jojohead | Johanna Stein". jojostein.com. January 8, 2014. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  9. ^ a b Johanna Stein (September 29, 2014), Momhead, retrieved November 20, 2017
  10. ^ Kid's insults to mom go viral – CNN Video, October 2, 2014, retrieved November 20, 2017
  11. ^ Murray, Elizabeth. "Mom records her 4-year-old's unfiltered (and adorable?) insults". TODAY.com. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  12. ^ Bologna, Caroline (September 30, 2014). "The Many Ways in Which A 4-Year-Old Might Insult Her Mom in a Single Morning". Huffington Post. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  13. ^ "Dealing with a Brutally Honest Toddler". The Doctors. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  14. ^ Desk, TV News. "Free Digital-Only Network CW Seed Announces Titles Available for Streaming". Retrieved November 20, 2017. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  15. ^ "Unperfect Productions, producers of Jojohead | Johanna Stein". jojostein.com. January 8, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  16. ^ a b Spangler, Todd (October 14, 2016). "Instagram Stories Is Getting First Scripted Series: Comedy 'JoJo Head' From CW". Variety. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  17. ^ "Canada's Mr. Bean is a woman, and she's got a CW series". CBC News. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  18. ^ SUZANNE LUNA (October 26, 2016), One in a Million PSA, retrieved November 20, 2017
  19. ^ "The People". Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  20. ^ Vagianos, Alanna (September 26, 2017). "This Is How Victim-Blaming Logic Would Play Out in Everyday Scenarios". Huffington Post. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  21. ^ Aggeler, Madeleine. ""It's on Us" Series Shows Absurd Justifications For Sexual Assault By Framing Them in Ridiculous, Real World Scenarios". Bustle. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  22. ^ "IT'S ON US/BIDEN FOUNDATION". Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  23. ^ "THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES ANNOUNCES WINNERS FOR THE 41st ANNUAL DAYTIME EMMY® AWARDS | The Emmy Awards – The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences". emmyonline.com. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  24. ^ a b "THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES ANNOUNCES WINNERS FOR THE 44th ANNUAL DAYTIME EMMY® AWARDS | The Emmy Awards – The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences" (PDF). emmyonline.com. Retrieved November 25, 2017.