Film festivals such as Sundance, Tribeca and Hot Docs, as well as an abandoned World War II bunker in Italy and a courtyard on a Grecian island are just a few places where Scott Calonico’s films have been screened. His movies have also been featured on websites such as Comedy Central, The Atlantic Monthly, Boing Boing, Dangerous Minds, Retronaut and VICE.

In 2021, he was commissioned by The New Yorker to write, direct and produce Catwoman vs. The White House, which premiered on The New Yorker website in February 2022.

His short film Everything You Wanted to Know About Sudden Birth* (*but were afraid to ask) premiered at Sundance 2019, won a couple of prizes, and has gone on to screen around the world. In 2020, his documentary short Betrayal was scheduled to screen at the Tribeca Film Festival (postponed because of COVID-19) and premiered online at the The New Yorker website.

Between 2016 and 2017, Calonico was selected to participate in the final Archidoc workshop, held at the prestigious La Femis Film School in Paris, France. Prior to that, in 2015, The Scottish Documentary Institute selected Calonico for their Bridging the Gap program, for which he directed and produced The Banana Republic.

He received the Audience Award for Short Documentary in 2014 from the Full Frame Film Festival with his film The Silly Bastard Next to the Bed and subsequently was shown in both Europe and North America, as well as premiering online at The Atlantic website.

That same year, Scott also served as producer and animator on the feature film, No No: A Dockumentary, which premiered at Sundance 2014 and was distributed theatrically in the US.

In 2015 he was awarded a documentary commission from the Scottish Documentary Institute as well as premiering his short When AIDS Was Funny in Vanity Fair. Don't believe it? Check out the Wikipedia page

He holds a BSc in Radio/TV/Film from the University of Texas and an MA from City University, London in International Journalism. He lives in Berlin, Germany where he is collects East German memorbilia and is filming his first feature documentary, Betrayal.

  • Guest Lecturer, “Using Archives in Documentary”
    California State University, Long Beach
    Associate Professor Helen Hood Scheer
    October 2022

    Vimeo Staff Pick - “Sudden Birth”
    June, 2021

    Short of the Week - “Sudden Birth”
    June, 2021

    Special Mention, Documentary Short - “Sudden Birth”
    Seattle International Film Festival 2019 (Seattle, WA USA)

    Eurodoc Creative Documentary Producers Workshop
    Selected Participant 2018 (Edinburgh, UK)

    Open Funding Grant Recipient
    Creative Scotland, 2017 (Edinburgh, UK)

    Archidoc/La Femis Workshop
    Selected Participant 2016 - 2017 (Paris, France)

    Creative Skillset Grant
    Recipient, 2016

    Special Jury Mention Sunderland Shorts Film Festival - “Final Draft
    2015 (Sunderland UK)

    Prize for Narrative Excellence in Documentary - “Final Draft”
    CineGlobe Film Festival 2015 (Geneva, Switzerland)

    Bridging the Gap - Scottish Documentary Institute
    Selected Filmmaker (Edinburgh, UK)

    Outstanding Documentary Short - “The Silly Bastard Next to the Bed”
    DC Shorts Film Festival 2014 (Washington, DC USA)

    Audience Award, Best Documentary Short - “The Silly Bastard Next to the Bed”
    Full Frame Film Festival 2014 (Durham, NC USA)

    Judges Award, Best Documentary Short - “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
    Oak Cliff Film Festival 2013
    (Oak Cliff, TX USA)

    Jury Member, Narrative Shorts
    Florida Film Festival 2007
    (Orlando, Florida USA)