Bio

NAOMI KO is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian, and cultural producer.

Naomi was born and raised in Minnesota to immigrant parents from South Korea, making her at once the most truculent and most passive person in any room. Her indie pilot presentation, Nice, was an official selection at Tribeca Film Festival. Nice was described as “darkly funny, moving and whip smart” and critics applauded Naomi’s writing and performance as Teddy. She’s featured on The Mortified Guide on Netflix and sold TV & film projects to Warner Bros. and more. Naomi has also won multiple grants and fellowships for her film, writing, acting, and theater work including Sundance Institute’s Art of Practice Fellowship (IDP), the McKnight Media Arts Fellowship, and the inaugural Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship.

Naomi is a fellow of these programs: Sundance Art of Practice, Sundance Episodic Lab, Sundance Women to Watch x Adobe, Sundance | The Asian American Foundation.

Recent Honors and Awards

More About Naomi Ko

Naomi is one of the co-founders of Funny Asian Women Kollective. FAWK was founded in 2014 by Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, May Lee-Yang, and Naomi Ko to combat the invisibility and dehumanization of female-identifying and non-binary Asian Pacific Islander Desi Americans (APIDAs) using humor and comedy. FAWK produces comedy shows, trains emerging comedic talent, hosts clapback workshops, and speaks nationally on racial and gender equity. Recently FAWK spoke at the White House Forum on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, & Pacific Islanders.

She is also a co-founder of the award-winning APIA MN Film Collective. APIAMNFC was founded in 2018 for Asian American filmmakers to create original narrative films. APIA MN Film Collective provides training opportunities and awards grants directly to filmmakers.