Dayna Hanson
- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Dayna Hanson is a director, writer, choreographer, actress and producer. Hanson wrote, choreographed and directed Season One, Episode Six of HBO/Duplass Brothers' Room 104--"Voyeurs," starring Sarah Hay and Dendrie Taylor--which was included in top television episodes of 2017 lists by The New York Times, Hollywood Reporter and Vox.
Hanson's newest feature is "Confession," a crime thriller starring Sarah Hay, Clark Backo, Nolan Gerard Funk, Sterling Beaumon and Michael Ironside. Written by Gregory Mulligan and produced by Yale Productions, "Confession" earned Hanson the "Best Female Director" award at Montreal Independent Film Festival in 2021.
Produced by Mel Eslyn, Hanson's debut feature film, "Improvement Club," premiered in Narrative Competition at South by Southwest Film Festival 2013. She produced Linas Phillips' award-winning 2006 debut feature, "Walking to Werner." Hanson's numerous shorts and dance films have screened internationally, including at Los Angeles International Short Film Festival, Dance Camera Istanbul and Festival Internacional de Videodanza de Buenos Aires.
Her award-winning first short film, "Measure," co-directed with Gaelen Hanson and edited by the late Lynn Shelton, screened at over 60 festivals worldwide, including New York Film Festival and Edinburgh International Film Festival. Considered a seminal work in dance film, "Measure" can be found on First Run Features' "Dance for Camera, Vol. 1."
Also acclaimed for her work in dance theater and contemporary performance, Hanson is a 2017 MacDowell Fellow, a 2010 United States Artists Oliver Fellow in Dance, a three-time Alpert Award nominee and a 2006 John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellow. Her stage work has been presented throughout the United States and in Europe. She studied creative writing at University of Washington, where she received the Loren D. Milliman Prize for Short Fiction.
Hanson's newest feature is "Confession," a crime thriller starring Sarah Hay, Clark Backo, Nolan Gerard Funk, Sterling Beaumon and Michael Ironside. Written by Gregory Mulligan and produced by Yale Productions, "Confession" earned Hanson the "Best Female Director" award at Montreal Independent Film Festival in 2021.
Produced by Mel Eslyn, Hanson's debut feature film, "Improvement Club," premiered in Narrative Competition at South by Southwest Film Festival 2013. She produced Linas Phillips' award-winning 2006 debut feature, "Walking to Werner." Hanson's numerous shorts and dance films have screened internationally, including at Los Angeles International Short Film Festival, Dance Camera Istanbul and Festival Internacional de Videodanza de Buenos Aires.
Her award-winning first short film, "Measure," co-directed with Gaelen Hanson and edited by the late Lynn Shelton, screened at over 60 festivals worldwide, including New York Film Festival and Edinburgh International Film Festival. Considered a seminal work in dance film, "Measure" can be found on First Run Features' "Dance for Camera, Vol. 1."
Also acclaimed for her work in dance theater and contemporary performance, Hanson is a 2017 MacDowell Fellow, a 2010 United States Artists Oliver Fellow in Dance, a three-time Alpert Award nominee and a 2006 John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellow. Her stage work has been presented throughout the United States and in Europe. She studied creative writing at University of Washington, where she received the Loren D. Milliman Prize for Short Fiction.
