Susan Johnston

Susan Johnston is the founder and director of the New Media Film Festival®. However, she's also much more than that. Amongst other things, Susan has had a successful film career both in front of and behind the camera, is a talented singer / songwriter, and owns the Fleetwood Mac tribute band 'Rumours'. Another of her bands 'Simple Truth' won top 5 MTV Band Search. As a performing artist, Susan has headlined numerous festivals and performed as the opening act for none other than Kansas, Blood Sweat and Tears, The Turtles, and Gary Puckett and the Union Gap. She has also performed as lead backup singer in Steve Stone's Epic Records produced song "Dreams Die Hard", and been a backup singer in a Bob Marley tribute band. She has sung the National Anthem at the Rosebowl, for the LA Galaxy soccer team, Norwich Navigators, PC Friars, and more. Susan wrote and performed the song "Mother Earth", used in Greenpeace's National Slide Tour Presentation. Other important songs Susan has written and performed include "Don't Touch Me That Way Again" (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence) and the theme song for the Wish Come True Children's Organization. In addition to a successful career as a performer, Susan owns her own award winning film studio, Select Services Films Inc, and the casting agency Susan Johnston Casting. She is the production/casting manager for both (2000 - current). She's also the VP Production for Big Vision Studios (2008 - current) Select Services Films Inc has won a number of awards in recent years including: . M&A Today Awards 2019 Best Woman-Owned Film & TV Production Company - California . 2018 Global Awards, Best Woman owned Film & TV Prod Co . 2018 Media Award, TMT Magazine . Best Video Production Services . CA State Business Awards: Best Arts & Entertainment Annual Event 2017 . City of Los Angeles: Certificate of Appreciation . Global Excellence Award: Most Outstanding Film TV Production Company . Global Excellence Award: New Media Producer of the Year . Los Angeles Award: Best Woman Owned TV Production Company . Los Angeles Award for Excellence in Broadcast Media Services . US Company of the Year (Film & TV) - Select Services Films Inc. . TMT Award for Excellence in Visual Storytelling Events - West Coast USA . TMT Recognised Leader in Film Production - West Coast USA The studio also produced and distributed the 35mm color film noir short Room 32. The film went on to win 2 awards, received distribution, and was requested by Spiderman 3 for their production team. However, Susan's most ambitious and personally rewarding project is the New Media Film Festival®. The idea for this festival, one that caters for media created with 21st century technology, was conceived well over a decade ago. It came from her own passion and interest in new media production mediums - as a pioneering producer in this area since 2000, she'd always had a keen desire to help other producers and writers tell their own 'stories worth telling' in the ever-changing media landscape. The first New Media Film Festival® was run as part of the 2009 C3: Center for Conscious Creativity "Immerse in the future" symposium held in Los Angeles. It is part of the C3 - United Nations - Millennium Project, and has been run annually in Los Angeles ever since. Each year legendary judges go through and cull the submitted content, which comes from around the globe. Those that make it through the cut are offered screening for their work, access to competitions worth $45k in awards, and distribution opportunities. The Festival now has over 600 titles in their library. Some of Susan's own successes in new media film production include producing the 1st series for Mobile and the 1st Augmented Reality series. Her film company was the 1st to distribute micro-content and produced the Stan Lee Comic Con panels and the Marvel Comic feature Prey: Origin of the Species amongst others. On top of her work commitments, Susan has also taken the time to lend her expertise to the Los Angeles Social Media Week, IFFS, Jackson Hole Science Conference, and Moviola. She's been a keynote speaker at the ITV-Plus Raleigh NC and 3rd Annual Computer & Animation Expo in Vegas, speaking on the future of media, and has spoken at high-level conferences including the American Film Market, NAB, and NATPE about new advancements in the social media/crowdfunding space. She is also a popular social media personality. LinkedIn announced that she was one of the top 10% of viewed profiles for that platform in 2012. Currently her monthly newsletter e-list has 80,000 subscribers and she has over 2 million followers across her social media accounts. As a businesswoman, Susan has won a number of significant awards, notably: . Los Angeles Award: Influential Businesswoman . Most Influential Woman in Media Production Support . Women to Watch: Production Hub/WIF and Indiewire/Sydney Levine . Women's History: Dedicated Servant of Global Change She is also the published author of . New Media, All Media - The Intersection of New Technology and Storytelling - Springer . Enlightenment - Your Life Is Remarkable - Barnes & Noble . The Way of the Savant - Barnes & Noble . Virtual Reality as New Media is Revolutionary - Connect-World: Europe II (2019) . How to Make it in Hollywood: The "Must Have" Resource Guide to Navigate the Film World When You're On Your Way Up - Barnes & Noble