Katy Gale Chevigny (born ) is an American documentary filmmaker. She has produced or directed more than 30 documentary films and won a number of awards for her work.

Early life and education

Chevigny was born in to Bell Gale Chevigny and Paul Chevigny. Her father taught law at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

and as of 2001 led the university's human rights clinic. Her mother taught literature at

Purchase College Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly betwee ...

and edited ''Doing Time: 25 Years of Prison Writing'' (1999). Chevigny graduated '' cum laude'' from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

Career

Chevigny was a social worker who started out in film in Chicago and then moved to New York City to start Big Mouth Productions in 1997 with a friend from college,

Julia Pimsleur Julia Pimsleur is an author, scaling coach and entrepreneur. She is the author of the best-selling book Million Dollar Women: The Essential Guide for Female Entrepreneurs Who Want to Go Big'Go Big Now and the founder oMillion Dollar Women Networ ...

. Pimsleur left the company in 2002. As of 2004 Chevigny's partner in the company was Dallas Brennan. As of 2022

Marilyn Ness Marilyn Ness is a documentary film producer and director based in New York City She is known for social justice documentaries, including '' Bad Blood: A Cautionary Tale'' (2010), ''Cameraperson'' (2016), and most notably, '' Charm City'' (2018). H ...

had joined the company. With

Kirsten Johnson Kirsten Johnson (born 1965) is an American documentary filmmaker and cinematographer. She is mostly known for her camera work on several well-known feature-length documentaries such as '' Citizenfour'' and '' The Oath''. In 2016, she released ...

she co-directed ''Deadline'' (2004), which won a Thurgood Marshall Journalism Award. The film, an examination of Illinois governor

George Ryan George Homer Ryan (born February 24, 1934) is an American former politician and member of the Republican Party who served as the 39th governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003. Elected in 1998, Ryan received national attention for his 1999 mora ...

's decision to commute the death sentences of everyone awaiting execution in the state, was purchased and broadcast on ''

Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasio ...

'', a rare example of a major commercial network acquiring an independent documentary. Chevigny directed ''Election Day'' which premiered at the South By Southwest Film Festival in 2007 and was broadcast on POV in 2008. She co-directed with Ross Kauffman the feature-length documentary '' E-Team'', which won Best Cinematography at the

2014 Sundance Film Festival The 2014 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 16, 2014 until January 26, 2014 in Park City, Utah, United States, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance Resort in Utah. The festival opened with '' Whiplash'' directed by D ...

and was released as a Netflix Original in October 2014. She produced the 2014 documentary '' 1971''. She directed one of six segments of ''Hard Earned'', which aired on Al Jazeera America in 2015 and won an Alfred I. duPont Award. With Kimberly Reed, Chevigny co-produced ''Dark Money'' (2018).

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

purchased distribution rights to the film, planning to include it in the

docu-series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

'' POV''.

Other recognition

Chevigny received a MacDowell Fellowship in 2008. Two films she co-produced have been nominated for an Emmy, in 2020 '' Becoming'' and in 2021 ''

Dick Johnson Is Dead ''Dick Johnson Is Dead'' is a 2020 American documentary film directed by Kirsten Johnson and co-written by Johnson and Nels Bangerter. The story focuses on Johnson's father Richard, who suffers from dementia, portraying different ways—some of t ...

'', which also won the Special Jury Award for Innovation in Nonfiction Storytelling at Sundance in 2020.

Industry service

At the International Documentary Association, she serves on the Advisory Board of the Enterprise Documentary Fund.

Film work

* ''My Two Months in Harlem'' (2022) * ''The First Step'' (2021) * ''

'' (2021) * '' Becoming'' (2020) * ''Charm City'' (2018) * ''Don't Be Nice'' (2018) * ''

Dark Money In the politics of the United States, dark money refers to spending to influence elections where the source of the money is not disclosed to voters. In the United States, some types of nonprofit organizations may spend money on campaigns wi ...

'' (2018) * ''Sasaba'' (2017) * ''Trapped'' (2016) * ''Cameraperson'' (2016) * Hard Earned, episode 2 (2016) * ''1971'' (2014) * '' E-Team'' (2014) * ''The Internet Must Go'' (2013) * ''(A)sexual'' (2011) * ''Pushing the Elephant'' (2011) * ''Camp Victory, Afghanistan'' (2010) * ''The Teacher'' (2009) * ''

Election Day Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections a ...

'' (2007) * ''Arctic Son'' (2006) * ''

Deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...

'' (2004) * ''Journey to the West: Chinese Medicine Today'' (2001) * ''Nuyorican Dream'' (2001) * ''Brother Born Again'' (2001) * ''Outside Looking In: Transracial Adoption in America'' (2001) * ''

Innocent Until Proven Guilty The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which must present co ...

'' (2001)

Television work

* ''

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is p ...

'' * ''

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence H ...

'' * '' POV''

Personal life

Chevigny married Jonathan Chen in 2001. In July 2011, she married Jack Smith, a prosecutor working for the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

. They have a daughter. The couple has been living in the Netherlands since 2018.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chevigny, Katy American women film directors American women film producers People from New York City Yale University alumni American women documentary filmmakers MacDowell Colony fellows 1960s births Living people