Dana Nachman is an award-winning filmmaker of both fiction and documentary films. Nachman’s films have been seen by millions of people all over the world in theaters, on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and many other outlets.
Nachman specializes in pulling out the emotion in any story whether a hard hitting investigative piece or a family friendly film. The Los Angeles Times writes, “Nachman adroitly focuses on the human stories… structuring narrative for maximum emotional impact.”
Nachman’s latest feature documentary Dear Santa was purchased by IFC Films and was released in December 2020 in theaters and on demand and will go to Hulu in the coming months. The film is currently rated 92% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Nachman’s 2018 feature documentary Pick of the Litter was sold within 48 hours of its premiere at the Slamdance festival and soon after was released theatrically also by IFC Films. It currently streams on Netflix. The Walt Disney Company hired Nachman to remake Pick of the Litter as a limited original series for Disney+. Nachman served as one of the showrunners of the series. She also directed three of the episodes.
Nachman’s 2019 narrative short Hook Up 2.0 premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Hook Up 2.0 and her 2016 short The Final Show starring Marion Ross screened at dozens of festivals and won several comedy awards.
In 2018 Nachman won best female director awards at both Cleveland International Film Festival and Seattle International Film Festival.
Nachman’s 2015 film Batkid Begins was bought and distributed by Warner Bros./New Line Cinema. Previously she wrote, directed and produced the documentaries Witch Hunt, which was executive produced by Sean Penn and premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival; Love Hate Love, which premiered at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival; and The Human Experiment, which screened at the Mill Valley and IDFA Film Festivals. She has won a number of awards over the course of her career, including three regional Emmy Awards, The Edward R. Murrow Award, and dozens of Jury and Audience Awards at film festivals.
Nachman’s films have also been seen on various television networks, including MSNBC, The Oprah Winfrey Network and PBS.
In 2017 and 2018 Nachman was chosen to participate in the American Film Showcase where she traveled as a US envoy with the State Department as a part of this prestigious film diplomacy program.
Nachman joined the Directors Guild of America in 2020 and is a proud and contributing member of the DGA’s Women’s Steering Committee.
Born and raised in New York, Nachman graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut with a dual degree in Middle Eastern Studies and International Relations. She went on to earn a Master’s Degree from NYU in Broadcast Journalism. Nachman lives in Northern California with her husband, three children cats and dogs.
