Sophie Mutiara Nova (they/them) – is a Queer, mixed Indonesian American, immunocompromised Writer-Director and punk. They’re the Writing Fellow of Lambda Literary and the ACEX TV Initiative. They’ve won the Launchpad Pilot Competition, ScreenCraft Horror Competition, and over eighty other awards. Their fantastical short films have screened internationally— most recently at Cheryl Dunye’s and Madeline Lim’s QWOCFF. They’ve been featured in: Deadline, Book Riot, Ms. Magazine, Macabre Daily, Gizmodo, Rainbow Crate, Gays Reading, LGBTQ Reads, iHeartSapphfic, and have toured with the Open Book Pasadena, Monrovia Pride Book Fest hosted by Underdog Books, and the Golden Crown Literary Society. They are the 2025 Lavender Public Relations Package recipient from Lambda Literary. Originally from Chicago, Sophie’s now based in Los Angeles (Dartmouth College BFA & MFA Film Directing CalArts) and was a former dancer for Indonesian dance troupe Burat Wangi.
Sophie is a garden fairy goth. They were grown in the Chicago suburbs on Midwest emo and transplanted to Los Angeles by adulthood. When not in the act of creation, they can be found carefully curating plant graveyards, trying not to poison themselves with the wrong flowers, and reanimating dying vegetation. For their first Halloween, they dressed as Clifford the Big Red Dog and made friends with a scare actor clown in a haunted house while all their friends ran screaming (true story). They took their childhood lunches in the library, read gory fairy tales in middle school (that were not meant for children), watched horror shows in secret, and befriended bespectacled librarians who were freaked out by Sophie’s prescient ability to seem to be able to accurately guess the results of coin tosses (most times, it’s tails). As a young adult, they discovered their queer identity in piercing parlors and BIPOC punk spaces that ultimately taught them that the most punk thing in the world is being kind.
They encourage greater storytelling accessibility for all, diversifying bookshelves, and reading the rainbow! 🌈 Sophie also yearns for the return of the bees and dreams of pollinator gardens. They are no longer afraid of butterflies. When not supporting local indie artists, Sophie plays a ghostly Dungeons & Dragons campaign. They are represented by the wonderful Patricia Court Entertainment. They can be found haunting social media otherwise @thesophiewhit.
