Johanny Mota

Johanny Mota is an award-winning filmmaker based in New York City with ten years of experience in the film industry. She began her career as an Actress and appeared in several theater, TV productions as well as commercials. After feeling discouraged by the lack of roles available to Latinx actors she began writing and creating content. She wrote & produced a ten-episode web series titled "Internet Affairs". She continued writing and producing, in 2016 she teamed up with a friend to executive produce and made her directorial debut with the short film "Cheryl & Denise" which went on to win Best Comedy at the Madrid International Film Festival. After "Cheryl & Denise" Johanny went on to write and produce several short films that made the festival circuit. Her latest "Where's Lilli?" which she also stars in was accepted to over fifteen film festivals and garnered several awards. Through her festival run Johanny noticed a lack of women filmmakers and felt inspired to create the Uptown Women's Film Festival of New York. A film festival to focus on stories made and/or about women+. She serves as the founder and Festival Director. Currently, Johanny works in social services as well as an intern at Creatively Speaking Film series. Johanny holds a BA from the University of Rhode Island and is currently in her second year at Long Island University where she is getting her MFA in Writing & Producing for Television. Johanny is the assigned producer as well as one of the writers for the senior capstone "The Darkest Timeline". As a writer and producer Johanny aims to tell emotional and relatable stories that represent the Latinx community in a positive light.