Geoffrey Dunn is an American author, film producer, film director, screenwriter, and investigative journalist. His films include ''Calypso Dreams'', ''Miss…or Myth?'', ''Dollar a Day, 10¢ a Dance'' and his books include, ''The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power'',
''Chinatown Dreams'', and ''Santa Cruz is in the Heart'', Volumes l and ll.
''The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power'', written by Dunn in 2011, remained on Amazon's bestsellers list for more than a year and a half.
Early life and education
Geoffrey Frank Dunn was born in San Francisco, California, to parents Frank and Lindy (née Stagnaro) Dunn. He is a fourth-generation descendant of the Stagnaro fishing family from Riva Trigoso, Italy.
Dunn graduated from Soquel High School in 1973, where he was captain of his high school baseball team. He received his B.A. in politics with honors in the major and college honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1977. He received an MA and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Santa Cruz.
Career
Filmmaking
Dunn began his film career serving as the on-screen narrator in the documentary film, ''A Day on the Bay'' in 1980.
[Day on the Bay] He later partnered with his principal collaborator Mark Schwartz on several documentary films, including ''Dollar a Day, 10¢ a Dance''; ''Miss…or Myth?'' (nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, 1988), ''Mi Vida: The Three Worlds of Maria Gutierrez'', ''Chinese Gold'', and ''Calypso Dreams''. He wrote the original screenplay for the feature film ''Maddalena Z'' (1989), which was released by Millennium Entertainment as ''Voyage of the Heart'' (1990), produced and directed by Schwartz.
Writing
Dunn was a featured contributor to the ''
HuffPost
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'') and served as senior editor for
Metro Newspapers
Metro Newspapers, now known as Weeklys, is an American newspaper company based in San Jose, California.
It publishes five free alternative weekly newspapers in Northern California: ''Metro Silicon Valley'', ''Good Times'', the '' Pacific Sun'', ...
where he received awards for investigative journalism from the
National Newspaper Association
The National Newspaper Association (NNA) is a Pensacola, FL based non-profit newspaper trade association founded in 1885. The organization has over 2,300 members, making it the largest newspaper trade association in the United States. The organiza ...
, the
California Newspaper Publishers Association
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, and the Peninsula Press. During the 2000s, he wrote numerous articles on
Caribbean Culture
The term Caribbean culture summarizes the artistic, musical, literary, culinary, political and social elements that are representative of Caribbean people all over the world.
As a collection of settler nations, the contemporary Caribbean has b ...
for the
Trinidad Express Newspapers
The ''Trinidad and Tobago Express'', better known as ''Daily Express'' (and the weekend editions ''Saturday Express'' and ''Sunday Express''), is one of three daily newspapers in Trinidad and Tobago. The ''Daily Express'' as per its masthead is p ...
, including a poem, a response to Nobel Prize-winning poet
Derek Walcott
Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem ''Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...
's ''Return of the Spoiler'', entitled ''Sparrow Come Back''.
Awards
Dunn has been the recipient of numerous awards for his work in film, journalism, teaching, and community work. He received an Excellence in Teaching award from the
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...
in 2000, the Gail Rich Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in 2002, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce in 2011, and was awarded the Santa Cruz County Artist of the Year award in Santa Cruz, California in 2015. Dunn received the Tony Hill Community Service award from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2020 in recognition of Outstanding Community Service and Commitment to Building Bridges Among Diverse Groups, which was recognized at the UC Santa Cruz annual Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation''.''
Filmography
* 2015 - ''The Glamour Boyz Again: The Mighty Sparrow and Lord Superior on the Hilton Rooftop'' - Director, co-producer, writer
* 2008 - ''Calypso Dreams'' - Writer, co-producer, co-director
* 1993 - ''A Home Movie Scrapbook'' - Writer, Director
* 1989 - ''Voyage of the Heart—Maddalena Z'' - Screenwriter, Actor
* 1987 – ''Mi Vida: The Three Worlds of Maria Gutierrez'' - Writer, co-director
* 1987 - ''Chinese Gold'' - Writer, co-director
* 1986 - ''Miss...or Myth?'' - Writer, co-director
[Miss or Myth Turner Classic Movies]
* 1984 - ''Dollar a Day, 10¢ a Dance'' - Writer, co-director
* 1981 - ''A Day on the Bay''
Books
* 2016 – ''Santa Cruz Wharf''
* 2014 - ''Santa Cruz is in the Heart''
* 2013 – ''Sports of Santa Cruz County''
* 2013 - ''Vintage Bargetto: Celebrating a Century of California Wine'' (co-author)
* 2011 - ''The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power''
* 2002 - ''Chinatown Dreams: The Life and Photographs of George Lee''
* 1989 - ''Santa Cruz is in the Heart'' (2nd edition 1990, 3rd edition 1995, 4th edition 1998, 5th edition 2003)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Geoffrey
American male journalists
20th-century American novelists
American travel writers
American male novelists
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people