Ondi Doane Timoner is an American filmmaker and the founder and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Interloper Films, a

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

located in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

. Timoner is a two-time recipient of the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

's Grand Jury Prize for her documentaries

DIG! ''Dig!'' is a 2004 American documentary film by Ondi Timoner. Summary The film explores the collision of art and commerce through the eyes of psychedelic rock groups The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, focusing on the developin ...

(2004) and WE LIVE IN PUBLIC (2009). Both films were acquired by New York's

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

for their permanent collection. Her 2023 film, LAST FLIGHT HOME was nominated for an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

. Timoner is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the DGA, the PGA, the

International Documentary Association International Documentary Association (IDA), founded in 1982, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and is dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre. Their major program areas are: Advocacy, Film ...

, Film Fatales, and Women in Film.

Early life

Timoner was born in Miami, Florida, to Elissa and Eli Timoner, co-founder of Air Florida. She has two siblings, Rabbi Rachel Timoner and David Timoner, who co-founded Interloper Films and has collaborated on several of her works. Timoner attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, where she founded the Yale Street Theater Troupe, a guerrilla theater ensemble that performed spontaneously in unexpected environments, in 1992. She made her directorial stage debut in 1993 with her production of Sarah Daniels' ''Masterpieces''. Timoner shot her first documentary film, THREE THOUSAND MILES AND WOMAN WITH A VIDEO CAMERA, with her younger brother David and John Krokidas, interviewing people at crossroads and convenience stores while on a cross country road trip. She subsequently filmed REFLECTIONS ON A MOMENT: THE SIXTIES AND THE NINETIES, an exploration of her generation's nostalgia for the 1960s and THE PURPLE HORIZON, a 60-minute documentary on the

March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation The March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation was a large political rally that took place in Washington, D.C., on April 25, 1993. Organizers estimated that 1,000,000 attended the March. The D.C. Police Department p ...

. For her film VOICES FROM INSIDE TIME she interviewed women inmates which would eventually lead her to Bonnie Jean Foreshaw, the subject of her first feature film, THE NATURE OF THE BEAST. The film went on to win the Howard Lamar Film Prize for Best Undergraduate Film at Yale University. Timoner graduated cum laude from Yale in 1994, where she majored in American Studies, with a concentration in Film and Literature and Theater Studies.

Career

Early years

Her debut feature documentary, titled THE NATURE OF THE BEAST (1994), explores the life and case of Bonnie Jean Foreshaw. Foreshaw was serving the longest prison sentence in the state of Connecticut for unintentionally causing the death of a pregnant woman, while defending herself against a man. The documentary aimed to shed light on issues of racism and systemic flaws within the justice system. During her career, Timoner contributed to PBS documentaries and gained experience through an internship with documentary filmmaker Helen Whitney. Timoner held roles such as Assistant Producer for NBC Media Services and Assistant Regional Coordinator for the Steven Spielberg Holocaust/Oral History Project in Miami, Florida.

2000s

Timoner created, executive produced and directed the

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

original series SOUND AFFECTS (2000), a film about music's effect at critical moments in people's lives. Timoner directed, co-produced, and edited

(2004) with her brother David Timoner, which chronicles seven years in the lives of two

neo-psychedelic Neo-psychedelia is a genre of psychedelic music that draws inspiration from the music production approaches and songwriting of 1960s psychedelia, either exploring emulations of the sounds of the era or applying its ethos to new styles of music ...

bands,

The Dandy Warhols The Dandy Warhols are an American psychedelic rock, psychedelic/ band, formed in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, in 1994 by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström. They were later joined by keyboardist Zia Mc ...

and

The Brian Jonestown Massacre The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American Rock music, rock band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990. The group was the subject of the 2004 documentary film called ''Dig!'', and have gained media notorie ...

. The film explores the love-hate relationship of the band's frontmen, Courtney Taylor and

Anton Newcombe Anton Alfred Newcombe (born August 29, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and founder of the music group The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Newcombe was the subject of the 2004 documentary film '' Dig!'', alo ...

. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, is now part of the permanent collection of the

(MoMA) in New York City, and was screened as the finale of the Film Society at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

and MoMA's 33rd annual New Directors/New Films Festival, in 2004. Timoner co-directed the short film RECYCLE (2005), a documentary about a homeless person who makes a garden in downtown Los Angeles. The film premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and played the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. Her third feature documentary, JOIN US (2007), follows families in their escape from a cult. It premiered at

LA Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episodi ...

, winning awards at the Sidewalk Film Festival and

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Festi ...

. When the

Jonas Brothers The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band formed in 2005 comprising brothers Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised in Wyckoff, New Jersey, the Jonas Brothers moved to Little Falls, New Jersey, in 2005, where they wrote thei ...

were signed to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, Timoner was hired to film three music videos for the group. Timoner debuted WE LIVE IN PUBLIC at the

2009 Sundance Film Festival The 2009 Sundance Film Festival was held during January 15, 2009 until January 25 in Park City, Utah. It was the 25th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. Awards *Grand Jury Prize: Documentary - '' We Live in Public'' *Grand Jury Prize: Drama ...

. The film focuses on Josh Harris, an American internet entrepreneur who founded Pseudo.com, a

webcast A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, webca ...

ing site that filed for bankruptcy in 2000. WE LIVE IN PUBLIC won the Grand Jury Prize award in the Documentary category at the Sundance Film Festival and a Special Jury Mention for "Best Documentary Film Over 30 Minutes Long" at the 2009

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (, KVIFF) is an annual film festival held in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Eur ...

2010s

Timoner was hired by Ralph Winter and Terry Botwick to make her fifth feature, COOL IT (2010), adapted from the 2007 book of the same name following controversial political scientist Bjørn Lomborg. The film premiered at

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

and was distributed theatrically by

Roadside Attractions Roadside Attractions, LLC is an American independent production company and film distributor based in Los Angeles, California, founded on July 27, 2000, by Howard Cohen and Eric d'Arbeloff. Lionsgate Films Lionsgate Films (spelled as Lions ...

. Her next film, LIBRARY OF DUST (2011), shines light on canisters of cremated remains found at the Oregon State Hospital. Co-directed with Robert James, ''LIBRARY OF DUST'' premiered at SXSW in 2011 and went on to win The Grand Jury Prize at five festivals, including

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...

, Taos Film Festival,

Traverse City Film Festival The Traverse City Film Festival was an annual film festival held at the end of July in Traverse City, Michigan. The festival was created as an annual event in 2005 to help “save one of America's few indigenous art forms—the cinema". The event ...

, and International Film Festival of Puerto Rico. THE LAST MILE (2015), made with

Conde Nast Conde is the Ibero-Romance form of "count" (Latin ''comitatus''). It may refer to: * Counts in Iberia *List of countships in Portugal Places United States * Conde, South Dakota, a city France * Condé-sur-l'Escaut (or simply 'Condé'), a com ...

, focuses on a tech incubator inside

San Quentin State Prison San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (SQ), formerly known as San Quentin State Prison, is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated area, unincorporated place ...

. Timoner's sixth feature documentary, BRAND: A SECOND COMING (2015), about the journey of comedian/author/activist

Russell Brand Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian, actor, podcaster and media personality. He established himself as a stand-up comedian and radio host before becoming a film actor. After beginning his career as a comedian and la ...

, was chosen to be the opening night film at the 2015

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

and was later picked up by Showtime. She was the sixth and final director to work on the film,

Albert Maysles Albert Maysles (November 26, 1926 – March 5, 2015) and his brother David Maysles (January 10, 1931 – January 3, 1987; ) were an American documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films in ...

being one of the predecessors. Timoner was invited by real estate entrepreneur Jimmy Stice to visit his for-profit sustainability program, Kalu Yala, in the

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

ian Jungle. Timoner filmed her next project around the business venture in 2016.

Spike Jonze Adam Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze (), is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes films, commercials, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze ...

picked up the project for

Viceland Viceland (stylized in all caps; also known as Vice TV in the United States) is a brand used for television channels owned and programmed by Vice Media. The brand launched on February 29, 2016, with two cable channels in North America. The Vice ...

and the footage was released as the ten-hour

docu-series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

JUNGLETOWN (2017). Timoner debuted her narrative feature MAPPLETHORPE (2018), titled The Perfect Moment in pre-production, at the 2018

Tribeca Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

, where it was nominated for Best Narrative Feature. It is based on the life and career of the controversial portrait photographer

Robert Mapplethorpe Robert Michael Mapplethorpe ( ; November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female Nude (art), n ...

, starring

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is known for playing the Eleventh Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Prince Philip in Netflix's historical series ''The Crown ( ...

as the titular artist. The project received a grant through the

Tribeca Film Institute The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) is a non-profit arts organization based in New York City, founded in 2001 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff following the September 11 attacks as a means to revitalize the arts community in lowe ...

's 9th annual All Access Program and was invited to participate in the

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by actor Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and compo ...

Director's, Writer's and Producer's Labs - receiving an Adrienne Shelley Grant. It was later picked up by

Samuel Goldwyn Films Samuel Goldwyn Films, LLC is an American film company that licenses, releases and distributes art-house, independent and foreign films. It was founded by Samuel Goldwyn Jr., the son of the Hollywood business magnate/mogul, Samuel Goldwyn. Th ...

in July 2018 and had its theatrical release on March 1, 2019. The Director's Cut, which was selected to premiere at Sundance, but ultimately did not screen there, was released April 2, 2021.

2020s

In 2020, Timoner directed COMING CLEAN, a feature documentary about addiction through the eyes of recovering addicts and political leaders. The film premiered at the Bentonville Film Festival on August 6, 2020 and won the Impact Award at the 2020 and Special Jury Prize for Editing at Sidewalk Film Festival 2020. Timoner's 2022 feature, LAST FLIGHT HOME, tells the story of her father, Eli Timoner, who died during the film's production. The film premiered in the Special Screening category at Sundance Film Festival in 2022, and was purchased by MTV Documentary Films shortly after. The film was shortlisted for the 2023 Academy Awards and received an Emmy nomination for Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking shortly after. In 2023, Timoner completed her documentary about the disruption of finance, THE NEW AMERICANS: GAMING A REVOLUTION, which premiered at SXSW. Timoner has directed ALL GOD'S CHILDREN, which follows Rabbi Rachel Timoner, a reform rabbi and political activist, and Reverend Dr. Robert Waterman, a black baptist reverend and community leader, for several years as they bring their respective congregations, Congregation Beth Elohim and Antioch Baptist Church, together in an attempt to combat the racism and anti-semitism that affects their communities in Brooklyn. She directed THE INN BETWEEN about the eponymous facility, the only hospice and recuperative care facility for the homeless in the U.S. On January 7, 2025, Ondi's Altadena home was completely burned down in the Eaton Fire, while she was filming a documentary in Rome. Ondi and her wife lost irreplaceable footage, family archives, cameras, instruments, and every sentimental and priceless item you can think of. They lost their home, history and future work overnight.

Other work

Timoner co-directed LIBRARY OF DUST (SXSW, 2011), a short film about thousands of copper urns discovered at the Oregon State Hospital. She founded, directed and produced A TOTAL DISRUPTION (2012). A TOTAL DISRUPTION is a web portal of 300 shorts and classes to share origin stories of Internet founders and artists using technology to innovate independence. Her short film OBEY THE ARTIST, about graphic artist

Shepard Fairey Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary artist, activist and founder of OBEY Clothing who emerged from the skateboarding scene. In 1989, he designed the " Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (...OBEY...) sticker campa ...

, premiered at the

in 2013. Timoner's short film, AMANDA F---ING PALMER ON THE ROCKS, about musician

Amanda Palmer Amanda MacKinnon Palmer (born April 30, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and performance artist who is the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo the Dresden Dolls. She performs as a solo artist and was also a memb ...

premiered in 2014 at the Tribeca Festival and played other festivals, winning the Sheffield Shorts Award at the Sheffield DocFest.

Politics

Compassion & Choices Compassion & Choices is a nonprofit organization in the United States working to improve patient autonomy and individual choice at the end of life, including access to Palliative sedation, medical aid in dying. Its primary function is advocating f ...

announced in May 2023 that it was partnering with Interloper Films, to help them get the right to die for terminally-ill people by screening LAST FLIGHT HOME, along with in-person Q&As, providing testimony from the Timoner family, political advocates and experts about the right to die. Timoner and family were in Washington in early June 2023 to screen and discuss the film at an event presented by the U.S. Representative

Brittany Pettersen Brittany Louise Pettersen (born December 6, 1981) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from Colorado's 7th congressional district since 2023. She previously served as a member of the Colorado Senate from the 22nd distric ...

, to advocate for the human right to bodily autonomy at the end of life, and specifically to support legislative efforts to reform the ban on federal funding for medical-aid-in-dying (ASFRA) to ensure equal access to the right in states where it is already legal.

Select filmography

Feature film

(2004) *JOIN US (2007) * WE LIVE IN PUBLIC (2009) *COOL IT (2010) * BRAND: A SECOND COMING (2015) * MAPPLETHORPE (2018) *COMING CLEAN (2020) *MAPPLETHORPE: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT (2021) *LAST FLIGHT HOME (2022) *THE NEW AMERICANS: GAMING A REVOLUTION (2023) *DIG! XX (2024) *THE INN BETWEEN (2024) *ALL GOD'S CHILDREN (2024)

Short film

* RECYCLE (2004) * LIBRARY OF DUST (2011) * AMANDA F***ING PALMER ON THE ROCKS (2014) * RUSSELL BRAND'S THE BIRDS (2014) * OBEY THE ARTIST (2014) * THE LAST MILE (2015) * 3000 MILES AND WOMAN WITH A VIDEO CAMERA

Television

*THE NATURE OF THE BEAST (TV, 1994) *SOUND AFFECTS (TV, 2000) * JUNGLETOWN (TV, 2017)

Select awards and recognition

* 1999 — Timoner was

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-nominated for Best Long Form Music Video for an EPK she directed about the band

Fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch (baseball), pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the ...

. * 2004 — Grand Jury Prize at

for ''Dig!'' * 2004 — Best Director Jury Prize at BendFilm Festival for ''Dig!'' * 2007 — Special Jury Prize at the Sidewalk Film Festival for ''Join Us'' * 2007 — Grand Jury Prize for Documentary Short at

for ''Library of Dust'' * 2009 — Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival for ''We Live in Public'' * 2015 — No Limits Award at the Ashland Independent Film Festival for '' Brand: A Second Coming'' * 2015 — Dramatic Storytelling Award at the

Sarasota Film Festival The Sarasota Film Festival is a film festival located in Sarasota, Florida and held in April. Its mission is "to celebrate the art of filmmaking and the contribution of filmmakers by hosting an international film festival and developing year-long ...

for ''Brand: A Second Coming'' * 2012 — Ashland Independent Film Festival's Rogue Award * 2014 — Sheffield Short Doc Award at the Sheffield DocFest for ''Amanda F---ing Palmer on the Rocks'' * 2017 — Kodak Auteur Award * 2018 — Audience Awards at Sidewalk Film Festival for ''Mapplethorpe'' * 2018 — Audience Awards at Tribeca Festival for ''Mapplethorpe'' * 2018 — Best Director at Long Beach International Film Festival for ''Mapplethorpe'' * 2020 — Impact Award at the Naples International Film Festival 2020 for ''Coming Clean'' * 2020 — Special Jury Prize for Editing at Sidewalk Film Festival 2020 for ''Coming Clean'' * 2022 — Special Screenings selection at Sundance Film Festival * 2022 — Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence at DOC NYC for ''Last Flight Home'' * 2022 — Best Feature Documentary Award at Dallas International Film Festival for ''Last Flight Home'' * 2022 — Filmmaker Impact Award at Hamptons Documentary Festival for ''Last Flight Home'' * 2022 — Best Documentary Feature at Woodstock Film Festival for ''Last Flight Home'' * 2022 — Critics Choice Award at Key West Film Festival for ''Last Flight Home'' * 2023 — Best Documentary Feature Nominee for Girls on Film Awards for ''Last Flight Home'' * 2023 — WGA Award Nominee Documentary Screenplay for the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...

for ''Last Flight Home'' * 2023 — Cinema Eye Honors "The Unforgettables" Award for ''Last Flight Home'' * 2023 — Cinema Eye Honors "Audience Choice Prize" nominee for ''Last Flight Home'' * 2023 —

Oscars The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...

Shortlist for Best Documentary Feature for ''Last Flight Home'' * 2023 —

Nomination: Exceptional Merit for ''Last Flight Home''

Personal life

Timoner is the daughter of Eli Timoner, founder of Air Florida. She has two siblings. Timoner has one son, born in 2003. She married composer Morgan Doctor at the Telluride Film Festival in 2022.

References

External links

Interloper Films

A Total Disruption

in the ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

''
Interview
on

SuicideGirls SuicideGirls is an online community website that revolves around pin-up model, pin-up photography models known as the Suicide Girls. The website was founded in 2001 by Selena Mooney ("Missy Suicide") and Sean Suhl ("Spooky"). Most of the site ...

* on Snagfilms * {{DEFAULTSORT:Timoner, Ondi Living people 21st-century American women American documentary film directors American women documentary filmmakers Yale University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Sundance Film Festival award winners