Ann LeSchander is an award-winning film and commercial director. 

Her independent feature film THE PARK BENCH  won Best Feature awards at festivals around the world including LA, NY, Veracruz,  Toronto, and Mar del Plata, Argentina. It was voted Audience Favorite at the Chicago Latino Film Festival.  THE PARK BENCH is distributed by Dreamscape Entertainment and is available on Amazon, GooglePlay, Vudu, Xbox, iTunes and in libraries across the country.  It has also aired on PBS.  The LA Times called it “a sweet tale with a smart storytelling device and charming performers.”  

 

Originally from upstate New York, Ann started work as a singer.  She sang in seedy clubs,  upscale cabarets, performed as a back up singer and  toured in musicals like Carousel and Guys and Dolls  until she landed in LA singing on film and television soundtracks.  Inspired to tell her own stories, she pursued a Master's at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

 

As a commercial director, Ann has created ads and short-form content for National Geographic, SONY, Geico, Purina, Discovery, Pepsi, Game Show Network and many others.  She has directed campaigns with Steve Harvey, Jeff Foxworthy, David Alan Grier, John Michael Higgins, Joey Fatone, Donald Faison and Rupaul.  She is the winner of  a Promax Gold Award for her HELLEVATOR INTERRUPTUS campaign which launched the hybrid horror/game show HELLEVATOR.

 

Ann is the recipient of the Woman in Film Crystal Award  for her short film TRUST and received the James Bridges Director Prize for her film

THE DAY BEFORE  which aired on Fine Cuts on PBS.

    

Ann received her B.A. in English from Colgate University and her M.F.A. from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.