About
Wild Pair Films is a Los Angeles-based production company specializing in both original and commissioned non-fiction content. Owned and operated by Mina T. Son & Sara Newens since 2011, our love of story has led us to a medium that combines artistry and empathy to illuminate issues and people that have been undervalued or ignored. Whether a character or a place, we create an emotional connection with an audience that ultimately showcases a brand, cultural experience, or a social issue.
Our films have screened at numerous festivals including SXSW, DOC NYC, AFI DOCS, Montclair, Traverse City, Sarasota, Big Sky and Rooftop Films among others. We have also created and/or produced original content for clients such as Facebook, Dropbox, WhatsApp, Instagram, Spotify and more.
WHO WE ARE
Mina T. Son is a Korean American documentary filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Mina has been awarded fellowships and funding from Independent Television Service, Film Independent, PBS/CPB Producers Academy, Bay Area Video Coalition, U.S. Japan Foundation, and Center for Cultural Innovation. Her debut feature-length documentary, Top Spin, was acquired by First Run Features and was hailed by the LA Times as “table tennis’ Hoop Dreams.” She has also worked as a producer at Facebook and WhatsApp, and is currently in production on a longitudinal documentary about the rebuilding of a small Japanese town after the 2011 tsunami. Mina holds an M.F.A. in Documentary from Stanford University and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Sara Newens is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and Emmy-award winning editor who began her career working for CBS News in New York City. She most recently served as editor on Lana Wilson’s PRETTY BABY: BROOKE SHIELDS, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. She collaborated with Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering on the HBO docuseries ALLEN V. FARROW, which garnered 7 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Picture Editing as well as Cinema Eye Honors and ACE Eddie award nominations. She also served as Editor/Writer for Dick and Ziering’s feature, ON THE RECORD, which also premiered at Sundance. She is known for Directing/Producing/Editing the documentary feature TOP SPIN and The New York Times Op-Docs film, FOOTPRINT. A graduate of the MFA Documentary Film Program at Stanford University, she continues to create original work through her production company Wild Pair Films, co-owned by Mina T. Son. They recently launched a new feature entitled RACIST TREES in partnership with Wayfarer Studios, which premiered at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and had its North American Premiere at the 2023 Palm Springs International Film Festival.