Mission

The Sonnett Media Group, LLC is a Washington, D.C. area-based production company dedicated to creating informative and entertaining media projects that offer audiences a unique view into the history that shaped our world and the events that define it today. Our mission is to connect information, ideas, and people through visual media, using the latest technology to enable storytelling and community-based interaction.


History

The Sonnett Media Group team came together in the spring of 2001 to design and produce educational and promotional Web sites for documentary films and media-based outreach programs. By 2003, we expanded our work in television by writing the script for a Discovery Channel natural history special Becoming Wild: Chimps of the Congo. Our work in video production continued with the Smithsonian Institution in 2004, where projects included documenting archeological field work in the Rift Valley in Kenya, forensic investigations of Colonial and Civil War-era human remains, and a fifty-video series showcasing the collections of the Luce Foundation Center for American Art. In 2007, we combined our expertise in web content creation with our skills in video production to help clients like the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation take advantage of the latest online video tools. Today, we continue to blend web and video work while pursuing new opportunities in broadcast and entertainment media, museum exhibit creation, and social networking.




Biographies

Dan Sonnett
President and Founder

Dan Sonnett has produced projects for the Smithsonian Institution, National Institutes of Health, the Department of Natural Resources, and PBS. In addition to producing numerous Internet-based projects, Sonnett also writes and produces for film and video. His work has aired on the Discovery Channel International networks and screened at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He earned his Masters degree in Film and Video from American University, and taught scriptwriting as an Adjunct Professor for three years.

Shannon Sonnett
Art Director

Shannon Sonnett is Sonnett Media Group’s Art Director and has designed most of the company’s projects. Drawing on a background in painting and visual arts, Sonnett has gained extensive experience in print design and layout for educational publications as well as designed numerous Web sites. Her design work on Bill Moyers Reports: Earth on Edge and Mesoamerican Reef earned nominations in the prestigious 2002 and 2003 SXSW (South by Southwest) Interactive Design Competition.


List of Clients

We’re proud to have worked with some of the leading names in factual programming, independent film, public television, conservation and education:

The National Academies of Science
Verizon Foundation
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
The History Channel
Smithsonian Institution
National Geographic Society
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
Independent Television Service (ITVS)
Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC)
Public Affairs Television
Devillier Donagan Enterprises
World Wildlife Fund
Earth Island Institute
World Resources Institute
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Maryland Public Television (MPT)
WITF, Inc.
David Grubin Productions
Screenscope, Inc.
Goldfarb & Koval Productions, Inc.
Discovery Networks International

Recognition

Our peers have recognized our achievements in video production, script writing, design, and community-based online interaction. We’re honored to have earned the following recommendations, nominations and awards:

• We Are Commitment
  Winner: 2007 CINE Golden Eagle award
  Winner: 2007 Television, Internet, and Video Association (TIVA) Peer Award Certificate of Merit

• Luce Foundation Center for American Art Kiosk Videos
  Winner: 2007 MUSE award for Extended Experience

• Chesapeake—Then and Now
  Finalist: 2006 Codie Awards Best Instructional Solution: Social Studies


• Skin Stories
  Yahooligans Cool Site of the Week (5/19/2003)


• Journey to Planet Earth
  Yahooligans Cool Site of the Week (4/21/2003)


• Mesoamerican Reef
  Finalist: SXSW 2003 Web site Competition


• The Buffalo War: "In Their Shoes"
  Promoted in PBS Interactive’s Newsletter for Producers and Stations as "...a great example of accessible interactivity."


• Great Performances: Holo Mai Pele
  Yahoo! What's New Today (10/09/01)


• The Roman Empire in the First Century
  Yahoo! Pick of the Day - July 18, 2001
  The Scout Report - August 3, 2001


• Bill Moyers Reports: Earth on Edge
  Finalist: SXSW 2002 Web site Competition