Sharon Janis is an author and video producer and editor.
She was born in Detroit in 1959 to atheist psychology teachers, and was interested in psychology and cinematography in childhood. In 1977 she enrolled at the University of Michigan for a double major in neurophysiology and film/video.
In 1979 she visited a local ashram under the guidance of Swami Muktananda. She joined the ashram's international headquarters as a full-time member and remained there for nearly ten years. She was known by the Sanskrit name of "Kumuda", or night-lotus.
Employing her experience gained in the ashram's video department, she secured a job as video editor in the Hollywood television industry. Her subsequent editing and producing work included Hard Copy, Candid Camera, Disney's Prime Nine News, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and X-Men.
She also founded her own production company in 1998, "Night-Lotus Productions", which specializes in spirituality multimedia, with a stated mission of, "Bringing light to the world through creative works."