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Mary John Frank
she/her

Mary John Frank, a director & choreographer creating films, music videos, and immersive 
& virtual experiences.

Mary John Frank is a New York-based director, choreographer, and filmmaker. Her work blends digital filmmaking and rhythmic storytelling to inform & uplift audiences. She has directed content for companies including New York City Ballet, Condé Nast, Disney, and Google Daydream. She has also worked in production and acquisitions roles at film studios including Paramount Vantage and Warner Bros. 

Her work has been screened at venues including Lincoln Center, the Hammer Museum, and Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. She has also created videos in partnership with the Center For Health & Gender Equity (now Fòs Feminista), National Women’s Legal Center, and Oceanic Global. Her choreography, film, and music videos have been featured on Nowness, Afropunk, Vogue.com and Refinery 29. 

She has an MFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (2013) where she received their Video Award providing a full year’s tuition. Additional awards and honors include being a Research Artist in Residence at Barnard College’s Movement Lab (2024), receiving Artizen’s VR Transformation Grant (2020), a 360/VR film grant from Google & Harmony Labs (2017), and Panavision's New Filmmaker Grant (2011). She was also one of Vimeo's "Groundbreaking Female Filmmakers To Watch,” and a finalist in the Tribeca Film Festival & IBM's "Storytellers With Watson AI” competition (2017).

A promotional graphic for Theatre Tech Talks.
Podcast

A Virtual Reality Climate Musical with Synchronized Swimmers

11 March 2025

Host Tjaša Ferme has a lighthearted chat with director, choreographer, and filmmaker Mary John Frank about the climate, virtual reality (VR) musicals, why VR works better in “one take,” and how and why to make theatre in VR at all.

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