Amanda Sonnenschein

Amanda Sonnenschein is a New York City born-and-raised director, writer, producer and artist working for HBO, Amazon Studios and as an independent director. She started her entertainment career at the age of eleven, training as an actor at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Usdan Performing Arts Camp and at ACTeen, and eventually becoming a YoungArts scholar. In high school she continued her theater education as a drama major at the prestigious LaGuardia High School of Music, Art and Performing Arts, known as the "Fame" school, where she studied with acclaimed writers, actors and directors of the stage in the footsteps of industry giants like Al Pacino, Jennifer Aniston and Adrien Brody, and alongside celebrated contemporaries Timothée Chalamet, Zazie Beetz and Awkwafina. While in school she starred in several student films and appeared in an episode of The Onion (2007) News Network series. Behind the scenes, Amanda cut her teeth in New York on documentary features and television series for CNN, National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and the Oprah Winfrey Network, and on indie horror features such as Ava's Possessions (2015). After graduating from Wesleyan University's esteemed film studies program, studying under renowned film historian Jeanine Basinger, Amanda moved to LA and produced two indie thriller features, House of Demons (2018) (released by Sony), and Silent Panic (2018). Both films are available on Amazon Prime as of October 2022. As a director, Amanda shot a narrative music video for Bollywood actress/singer Leah Khambata: Something Still Here (2019), which premiered on VH1 India in February 2020. She also directed the first season of Ex Pat Podcast (2020). In addition, Amanda has written, directed and produced several short films, including Going Out (2019) and Ready (2014), the latter of which she adapted and is now shopping as a feature-length script. The Assignment (2019), a short film which she co-wrote and produced as part of an entirely fem cast and crew, had its premiere at Regal LA Live in August 2019. She went on to write and direct the pilot episode of the anthology series Drawing From Life (2021), which was released on Amazon Prime October 2021. Only two months later, Amanda released her first animated short film, titled Pizzato (2021), utilizing a new approach to stop-motion: the applying the up-and-coming technique of photogrammetry to scan original 3D puppets and animate them virtually. To round out the year, she directed the comedy short Will You Be My Quaran-tine? (2022) which was released Valentine's Day 2022 in collaboration with LA Weekly Asia and Gelson's Supermarket. In 2022 Amanda's focus has been on directing and producing The Game (2023), a tabletop role-playing-inspired adventure-fantasy comedy series in the vein of Community (2009) meets The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022). The series follows a motley group of strangers as they interact both in real life and as their fantasy counterparts in the supernatural realm of Aldia, and introduces a refreshingly diverse range of characters and creative team-into the typically homogeneous world of fantasy. The series is slated to film its first season in 2023.