shawn hanna

Shawn Hanna is a Canada-born Los Angeles based filmmaker, photographer, writer and traveller. His work spans several chapters of an unconventional career which began as a research assistant in the jungles of Costa Rica, capturing footage of primates in the wild. He then continued to collect images and stories when he had eventually made his way through Europe as a travel photographer and writer. Several years on the road and in jungles allowed him to lean into documentary filmmaking as well as commercial projects. He finally mustered up enough courage to move to New York at the age of 30 in pursuit of work as both a filmmaker and photographer. Nearly seven years in the city helped him to dream bigger and scale up his creative ambitions - eventually focusing large sums of his energy and attention on screenwriting, directing and producing. Today he pulls from several of his experiences over the last 20 years to patiently stitch together compelling stories across several mediums. History, film theory, natural systems, adventure, art, and the shared human experience greatly inspire his perspective.