Janna Jones

I am a professor of Creative Media and Film in the school of Communication at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. I teach screenwriting, media criticism, other kinds of writing courses, and graduate courses in Communication. I am the author of the books The Southern Movie Palace: Rise, Fall, and Resurrection (University Press of Florida); The Past is a Moving Picture: Preserving the Twentieth Century on Film (University Press of Florida) and The Spirit of the City: Marshall Fredericks Sculptures in Detroit (Michigan State University Press). I have also published many essays and book chapters about film, architecture, design, and preservation which include articles in the Journal of Curatorial Studies, Liminalities, The Moving Image, and the Michigan Historical Review.

I have won more than 100 awards for my feature and short screenplays since 2021. I understand that life can be difficult, and at the heart of a great screenplay is compassion for both its characters and its audience. My screenplays include Cheap, Sexy and Shocking!, a historical, biographical screenplay; About Gabriel, a drama/fantasy/comedy; Malled, a thriller/horror/comedy; Shelter, a romantic comedy, the shorts Past Due, Postage Due, and Overdue--which are romantic comedies. I have also written Dump It and Grab and Go, which are shorts that feature a profoundly autistic main character. And finally there is Waiting for You, which is an adaptation of a Robert Earl Keene song, Feelin' Good Again.

When I am not writing or teaching, you can likely find me at the barn with my horse Bailey and my mule Dottie. As I understand it, riding is quite a bit like writing. It requires discipline, patience, and practice—every single day. I am also a yogi and meditator and I do guided meditations with my university students at the beginning of each class. I live in the mountains of Flagstaff, Arizona with my partner, George, and my dog, dd, and my cat, Salamander.