Sonja Perryman

Sonja is a writer, producer, educator, and performer with a passion for telling female-driven, diverse stories that explore socially relevant issues in humorous and unexpected ways. Sonja was born in California and raised primarily in Atlanta before moving to New York to attend NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. After graduating from NYU with a BFA in drama, Sonja went on to perform in numerous critically acclaimed theater productions throughout the country. Sonja soon felt a call to participate in health and wellness initiatives in her community and worked as a health educator for youth and their families throughout South Los Angeles. She went on to receive her Masters in Public Health from UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health and upon graduation, used her research and storytelling skills as Director of Research & Development at Wise Entertainment, where she oversaw numerous television projects and also served as associate producer on Hulu's six-time Emmy-nominated television show, East Los High. She is also associate producer on Time 2 Surrender, an award-winning short film written, directed, and starring Elvis Nolasco and executive produced by Spike Lee. She now works as a screenwriter and was recently staffed on Season Two of the Facebook Watch show, Five Points. Sonja serves on the board of FYI Films, a non-profit that teaches filmmaking to incarcerated youth, and has been a guest lecturer and keynote speaker at institutions around the country, including: UCLA, USC, Webster University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Geffen Theater, Johns Hopkins University, and many more. Sonja was one of five women selected to attend Hedgebrook's 2019 Screenwriters Lab, where she worked on her first feature film script, a coming of age story set in 1968 South Los Angeles. She also has a half-hour dramedy in development that explores the world of reality television and black female identity.