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Sara Nesson

@saranesson

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🎬 Oscar & Emmy Nominated & Gold Cannes Lion Winning 🦁 Documentary Filmmaker

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More 777 BTS from producer and KITS ambassador @georgelako The KITS youth and cast had a blast learning how to bet and roll the dice 🎲 on the craps table with gambling consultant @aliwoodrhc and his wife Mel. We had 1 day to shoot 10 pages but we managed to shoot the Gambler's Anonymous scene on our prep day (without G&E). Amazing what we were able to pull off made possible by talented DP @nataliamoscoso and her brilliant crew! 🎬🤯🙌🌟

I also want to send a huge shout out to @keslowcamera for donating all the camera gear and BEAUTIFUL Scorpio Anamorphic lenses.

@otm.media_ for coming through at the last minute with production insurance

@brandonruizdp for donating your Sony Venice and introducing me to @georgelako through whom I met Natalia!

@kidsinthespotlight for covering our shooting location and G&E and trusting me with the stories developed through your script to screen program. It’s one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had. Seeing the smile on @_theladyace and all the kids faces is what it was all about!!

#sonyvenice #womeninfilm
#makeyourluck #777 #kidsinthespotlight taken in Hollywoodland by @saranesson

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a month ago

Just wrapped 777, a short film I directed for Kids in the Spotlight, a non profit that empowers foster youth with filmmaking. We shot for the moon on this one and everyone showed up beyond my wildest dreams. We had an incredible all volunteer cast and crew and 25 extras that made it through a 12 hour shoot in the middle of a heatwave in down town LA. The story is about a system taking advantage of those down on their luck and so true for what people especially young people are facing today. I think this day gave us all a little faith we will all be ok and even thrive when community comes together like this. My heart is full for all the support I received to step beyond my own limits. I have to give a special shout out to Raina, one of the KITS youth that trusted me with her vision and inspired me to want to move mountains for her. Watch out world!! 🎲🦋🎬💫🎲🌹#kidsinthespotlight #makeyourluck #777 #fosteryouth #womeninfilm taken in Hollywoodland by @saranesson

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Testing out the diopter on the Scorpio FF anamorphic lenses with the talented DPs @nataliamoscoso and @mei.ling_marzonie. So excited to work with Natalia for our upcoming shoot “777” for @kidsinthespotlight. This will be my second year as a director-mentor. Working with foster youth has been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. Their passion and enthusiasm for learning the filmmaking process just makes you want to go all in and nurture their creativity and confidence. We are making a gambling film about young mom trying to break free from debt and a system that exploits those down on their luck. Couldn’t be more timely. And the diopter will come in handy on the craps table! 🎲🎲This would not be possible without the gear and support from @thearibrown at @keslowcamera 🙏🎬 More adventures with KITS and the one and only @xocharliehannah to come! taken in Keslow Camera by @saranesson

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🩵🌊🩵 Today endurance swimmer Cat Breed stepped into the ocean to begin her HISTORIC 900 mile journey down the entire coast of California, swimming 15 miles a day. Part Wonderwoman, part mermaid, part underwater Martian, Cat is the reason other girls and woman will believe they can do anything too. 🙌Sending safe passage to Cat and her entire crew and Sea Dreamer community. Excited to be a part of telling Cat’s story for Kotex. Get live updates at @allezsportstv and @catherine.breed #seadreamers #swimcalifornia #kotex by @saranesson

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3 months ago

Winning gold, winning us over with love. 🦁

🥇Autism Society’s “Language of Bedwetting” created a breakthrough solution that helped children with autism communicate during one of their most vulnerable moments.

@mccannnewyork
@autismsociety
@theautismcafe
@dana__garrett
#dreamteam by @saranesson

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3 months ago

Directing documentaries about badass women and collaborating with inspiring women never gets old! More to come. #OwnYourFlow #Kotex #Mccann #alezsports #dreamteam

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/09/us/catherine-breed-california-coast-swimming.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share by @saranesson

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4 months ago

I am SUPER proud to be a director mentor for Kids in the Spotlight and grateful for the chance to celebrate our film WHITE NOISE last night at the Pan African Film Festival with our superstar writers and cast — foster youth that have redefined themselves through ambition and courage. You guys show up and are not afraid to develop your talents and do the hard work to get here. I loved working with every one of you and cannot wait to see how far you go!! 🌟🔥🌟 Thank you @barbarry2 and @mr.willmcfadden and the visionary @leadersinthespotlight Charissa, Tamesha, Tyrin, Myah, acting mentor leonardthomas, and everyone at KITS for inviting me to get involved and a huge thank you to my BRILLIANT DREAM TEAM producer and co-Director/writer @xocharliehannah and 1stAC/editor/sound designer/ colorist extraordinaire @killianit . I couldn’t have done it without you and the creative team you magically brought together: @michaelpatricklang @tristenpon @n0tcarriebradshaw @shred_dec @jessi.hobbs @zack_richeimer @chrisgamba @urfriendrache (and many more!) I’m so grateful to be part of this big hearted and wildly talented filmmaker community! Huge thank you to @paffnow and @dgaawards for hosting the director’s brunch. What an honor to be in that room!! Big shoutout to KITS youth @lottydarko for sharing your KILLER music for the film! 🎶🎬🤟💘🌟 taken in The Culver Theater by @saranesson

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7 months ago

Celebrating life with my favorite LA moms and life long BFFs @jillkatz1975 @mosenthal41 . You have been there for me across oceans 🌊 will keep following you 4-eva!! Mona if only I still had that pink tutu you bought me when I turned 3! 🩷❤️ taken in Bottega Louie West Hollywood by @saranesson

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7 months ago

Like skiing in the metaverse! taken in Arapahoe Basin (A Basin) Ski Resort by @saranesson

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7 months ago

An amazing night at the Grammy Museum screening RESYNATOR followed by Q&A with director @alisontavel with @mattmusty, Money Mark, Gotye, and moderated by Jimmy Jam. A fascinating conversation about repurposing music technology of the past to create new sounds with stories that move us. I love seeing Resynator continue to forge new paths and connections and just gets better every time I watch it. It’s going to be nail biting next couple days waiting for the Grammy noms to come out!! Thank you @jeff.hix for rallying last night after a crazy 10 days in NYC! #resynator #synth #dontavel #grammyawards #grammymuseum #grammy2026 #documentary #fathersanddaughters 💜🎶🌈 taken in GRAMMY Museum by @saranesson

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a year ago

My 17-year-old niece asked me to take her senior photos on Venice Beach. There was something quietly electric about that morning—photographing her barefoot in the sand, light spilling over the horizon, surfers catching soft little waves behind us. She twirled, laughed, and leaned into herself in a way I hadn’t seen since she was five, when I swung her in my arms to Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood.

Her weekend visit from Denver was full of unexpected adventures—a 4-week-old kitten rescued from a car engine in a parking lot, the No Kings protest (her first protest if you don’t include the school walk out after a shooting incident at her high school two years ago), and a spontaneous spree in Little Tokyo where she spent all her money on collector’s items. “At least I’m not doing drugs, Auntie,” she assured me with a rebellious grin.

I loved watching her step into her own creative vision, letting her beauty and individuality emerge after such a long phase of hiding behind oversized hoodies, a shuttered bedroom, and endless screens. There’s something deeply moving about witnessing that kind of reemergence—the quiet reclaiming of self.

And yet, my heart aches for the chaotic, unkind world she and her generation are coming of age in. A world where education should be about curiosity, purpose, and passion—and not the constant fear of being shot. A world where people give a fuck about each other and consider how their actions impact a friend, a family member, and the collective soul of humanity.

I hope the challenges that come with this uncharted path shape her into someone who creates, who rises, who leads with empathy and imagination. This weekend felt like a small glimpse of that becoming.

I’m a proud auntie.

P.S. please DM me if you want to adopt the darling kitten! She’s barely 6 weeks old and needs a loving home. 🐈‍⬛ taken in Venice Beach California by @saranesson

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On the eve of Trump’s bill passing to remove $1.1B in federal funding for NPR and PBS ($9B total in public funding), Stephen Pizzello and I got to screen a PBS SoCal presentation of Ken Burn’s American Revolution. Never has there been a more important remidner how our forefathers fought and died for the freedoms American have and how quickly that is eroding.

Jeff Hix and I watch PBS Newshour every night (usuallyually while I’m cooking), a ritual I love, especially the arts and culture segment that always leaves us feeling inspired and a little smarter.

Please join us in donating to pbs and keeping public broadcasting alive. #NoKingsSince1776 taken in Academy Museum of Motion Pictures by @saranesson

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a year ago