Nicole Conn is a renowned author, screenwriter, director, producer, and film editor, celebrated for films that explore love, identity, and emotion with intelligence and depth — among them Claire of the Moon, More Beautiful for Having Been Broken, Elena Undone, A Perfect Ending, and little man. Her screenplays are powerful and intimate, resonating with women of all ages.
A pioneering filmmaker for over thirty years, Conn is best known for her cult classic Claire of the Moon— now in its 33rd year — which paved the way for lesbian-themed cinema and established her as a visionary lesbian filmmaker. She has since produced nine films, earning worldwide recognition and becoming perhaps the best-known writer/director of women’s films the world over.
Her best-selling features include A Perfect Ending— “the sexiest film of 2012” (Curve Magazine), with over 116 million sneak-preview views — and Elena Undone, a classic romance with a twist that boasts the longest on-screen kiss in cinema history and became the best-selling film of its genre in 2010. Her feature More Beautiful for Having Been Broken won 32 Best Awards across the 2019/20 festival circuit.
Films that explore love, identity, and emotion — told with intelligence, beauty, and heart.
Coming Out for Love
A pioneer throughout her career, Conn created the first-ever LGBTQ+ dating competition show, Coming Out for Love (2023), hosted by acclaimed activist and actress Jessica Clark — a Webby Honoree for Best Host.
With its multi-diverse, multi-talented contestants, it’s a highly entertaining reality romp — but it’s much more: an extraordinary snapshot of our community that delves into the issues affecting it, from toxic relationships and mental health to racism and an alcoholism redemption story that brings viewers to tears.
little man
Conn’s most personal film is also her most universal. little manis a documentary she wrote, directed, and produced about her son Nicholas — born 100 days early, weighing just one pound. It won 12 Best Documentary Awards, along with Cedars-Sinai’s Courageous Beginnings Award and Family Pride’s Family Tree Award, and made three Top Ten lists of 2005.
Showtime picked up the film and ran an Emmy campaign on this hard-hitting story of Nicholas’s premature birth and subsequent six-month stay in a neonatal intensive care unit.
A life of advocacy
Preemie advocacy
little man led Conn to support overwhelmed NICU parents — co-creating The Preemie Parent's NICU Survival Guide with Preemie Magazine founder Deborah Discenza, and helping connect NICU families with the resources they need.
The Claire of the Moon Scholarship
She sponsors a scholarship in the name of the film that started it all, investing in the next generation of storytellers.
Founding NCFG
Conn conceived Nicole Conn Films Global — a community dedicated to financing quality projects for LGBTQ+ filmmakers.
Conn is a mother of two and lives in Los Angeles. Her son, Nicholas, remains medically fragile and was the inspiration for More Beautiful for Having Been Broken; her daughter, Gabrielle, a theater and education major, makes her own film debut.
On the page
Before and alongside the films, Conn built a parallel career as an author. Her writing earned a three-book deal with Simon & Schuster, and she has penned novelizations of three of her films — each carrying the same romantic intelligence as her work on screen. Still to come is Descending Thirds, the epic novel she calls her best work yet.
Still creating
Conn is noted for deeply personal films, strong and complex female characters, an ability to put the money on the screen, and her signature gift for “chemistry casting.” Her next feature, do we not grieve — a haunting love story between two women bound by unexpected tragedy — is in development, alongside her forthcoming epic novel, Descending Thirds.
Help bring it to life in the Producer’s Corner →Selected films
Watch the work
Three decades of love stories — rent, own, or stream them with a membership.