Bio – Nicole Conn Films Global

A Note

From Nicole

Nicole Conn has been a die-hard romantic and black-and-white film devotee since the age of nine — a sensibility that would later define her pioneering voice in independent cinema.

The Groundbreaking Debut

In 1993, Conn raised the financing, wrote, directed, and produced her groundbreaking debut feature, Claire of the Moon — a maverick film chronicling a woman’s journey to sexual identity. The cult classic garnered international acclaim and became a seminal work in LGBTQ+ cinema.

It’s had 10th and 20th Anniversary Re-Releases and is currently being restored for its 35th Anniversary Re-Release. Conn pioneered ancillary branding in lesbian cinema, creating the first novelization (now in its 15th reprint), a best-selling making-of documentary (MOMENTS), soundtracks, and licensed merchandise.

She followed with the award-winning short Cynara…Poetry in Motion, and expanded into publishing with a two-book deal from Simon & Schuster for Passion’s Shadow (1995) and Angel Wings (1997). The screenplay adaptation of Angel Wings won the 2001 Telluride Film Festival’s Best Screenplay Award.

A Deeply Personal Story

Conn’s deeply personal documentary little man, chronicling her son’s premature birth at one pound, won 12 Best Documentary Awards, including Cedars-Sinai’s Courageous Beginnings Award and Family Pride’s Family Tree Award.

The film made three “Top Ten Films of 2005” lists and was acquired by Showtime, which mounted an Emmy campaign. Conn later co-authored The Preemie Parent’s NICU Survival Guide, now in its second edition.

Record-Breaking Romance

Her dramatic feature Elena Undone (2010), winner of four Best Feature Awards, became the best-selling film of its genre and holds the record for the longest on-screen kiss in cinema history. It remains a cornerstone of romantic LGBTQ+ storytelling and was re-released for its 10th Anniversary in 2020.

Conn’s critically acclaimed A Perfect Ending (2012), described by Curve Magazine as “the sexiest film of 2012,” garnered five Best Feature Awards and accumulated over 119 million preview views online, becoming one of the highest-selling films in its genre.

Continuing the Journey

In 2020, Conn released her eighth feature, More Beautiful for Having Been Broken, called by The Advocate “her most personal film yet.” The film won over 30 awards on the 2019–2020 festival circuit and was released worldwide through Vision Films.

From that film emerged Blue Love Dance – A CineRomance, an intimate behind-the-scenes feature chronicling the seven-year evolution of the film’s iconic Love Dance sequence.

Continuing her pioneering spirit, Conn created and executive produced the first-ever LGBTQ+ dating competition series, Coming Out for Love (2023), a 16-episode streaming series hosted by award-winning Jessica Clark (True Blood, A Perfect Ending), expanding with its companion series, Coming Out After Dark, streaming globally.

What's Next

Her latest novel, Descending Thirds (published 2025), is now in development as a nine-part limited television series. Set against the high-stakes world of classical music, it’s been described as a “mega page-turner with two jaw-dropping twists.” The audiobook features curated classical repertoire and original composed score.

A finalist for the prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, Conn has received worldwide industry recognition for her body of work.

She remains deeply committed to community, having established the Claire of the Moon Scholarship through the Astraea Foundation and championing women-led and LGBTQ+ storytelling through NicoleConnFilmsGlobal.com — a destination hub dedicated to building the Lesbian Cinema Library: Made by Us, About Us, and Now for All of You.

At the heart of all her work is one guiding belief:
There is no greater measure of success than an audience that returns — again and again — to a story that feels like home.