Ann Sorenson, MFA

Ann Sorenson serves as a Film & Media Professor and program director for the Five16 Film Festival at the University of Northwestern – St. Paul. She pioneered the film track, which is a thriving part of the communication department, and teaches classes on storytelling, scriptwriting, and single camera production.

She received her M.F.A. in Film from Columbia University. During her time in New York City, she received a New York Women in Film nomination and a Directing the Actors Fellowship from Columbia University.

Her love and appreciation of stories propelled her professional life, beginning in television at KSTP-TV and KARE-11 and then serving as the Theater Director at Minnehaha Academy for 12 years directing theater productions.

Sorenson’s latest film, My First Funeral, screened at the 11th Annual Burbank International Film Festival, the Iowa Independent Film Festival, the Salty Earth Film Festival, and the Canadian International Faith and Family Festival. It was a semi-finalist at the Burbank International Film Festival and the Canadian International Faith and Family Festival and won Best Comedy Short at the Salty Earth Film Festival.

She is a founding member of Minnesota Women in Film and Television and was inducted into the Minnehaha Academy Fine Arts Hall of Fame.

In addition to film and all things related to story, she enjoys traveling, reading, hiking and spending time with her husband, daughter, family, and friends.

Specialty Areas

• Film production
• Script writing
• Visual narrative

Department and Teaching Responsibilities

• Advisor to NW Productions
• Intro to Film
• Story Structure
• Single Camera Production
• Script writing