Adjunct

Ron Najor is an Iraqi-American filmmaker and was one of the lead producers on the critically acclaimed feature SHORT TERM 12, which won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at SXSW in 2013. SHORT TERM 12 was selected to be on over 100 top-ten lists for 2013 and garnered a Gotham Award for Best Actress for Brie Larson and a Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Editing. SHORT TERM 12 was also given the prestigious distinction of being awarded The Golden Tomato Award for being the highest critically rated theatrical movie in limited release in 2013 by Rotten Tomatoes.

Najor made his produceral debut with the indie feature film I AM NOT A HIPSTER at The Sundance Film Festival, where he was nominated for the Producers Award. He since directed the short documentary AMERICAN BAGHDAD that premiered at AFI Docs in 2016 and was co-released by The Atlantic and made a Vimeo Staff Pick. Najor’s feature script DARK WEB was part of the SFFILM/Sloan Science in Cinema Filmmaker Fellowship for 2017, the Film Independent Screenwriting Labs for 2016, and was a quarter-finalist at the Austin Screenwriting Competition. Najor’s short film he co-wrote and directed, IT’S A MATCH, premiered at the Palm Springs International ShortsFest 2018 and became a Vimeo Staff Pick later that year. Najor followed that project up with the Indie Episodic Pilots THE DREAM and PRETEND PARTNERS, which he directed and co-wrote and were official selections of SXSW 2020 and SXSW 2021. In addition, PRETEND PARTNERS received a Special Jury Recognition at SXSW 2021 for – BEST DUO.