About Lava

Lava Khonsuwon is an award-winning Isaan Thai American filmmaker based in New Mexico. Her experience expands over 17 years in various departments: casting, accounting, and production. Recently, she has worked as the director for docu-style commercials - Seven Point Farms, Bold Futures, Hotel Zazz, Meow Wolf short doc, and BeWell NM.  She was the Producer for a Science Fiction Project "All That Remains", Co-Producer for a regional Superbowl Commercial, Produced/Cast the mini-series "Unstained", Production Coordinator for Meow Wolf Las Vegas and History Channel's: Histories Greatest Mysteries (NM episodes).  And recently, a field producer for a couple of Comcast projects.

 

Lava is in the 2023 Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) mentorship program,  2023 Commercial Director Diversity Program (CDDP) cohort, and she is a Stowe Story Lab New Voices New Mexico Fellow.

She also won a 2023 Silver and Bronze Telly.  In 2024, her pilot, The Golden West, beat out 10,000 scripts for Second Rounder status at the Austin Film Festival Script Competition.

 

In addition to studio work, Lava writes, produces and directs her own projects from documentaries and narrative films. Currently she is directing a documentary about Traditional Clothing and editing a documentary about having Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). Lava is also the Festival Director for the New Mexico Asian Film Festival and Founder of Asians in NM Film.

 

Lava is driven to create films for her community that encourage positivity and overcoming challenges. When not creating films, Lava loves spending time taking photos, hanging with dogs, and building an off the grid meditation retreat with her partner John.