Lesley Chilcott is an American documentary film director and producer. Notable feature documentary films include ''

Watson Watson may refer to: Companies * Actavis, a pharmaceutical company formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals * A.S. Watson Group, retail division of Hutchison Whampoa * Thomas J. Watson Research Center, IBM research center * Watson Systems, make ...

'', ''

Waiting for "Superman" ''Waiting for "Superman"'' is a 2010 American documentary film written and directed by Davis Guggenheim and produced by Lesley Chilcott. The film criticizes the American public education system by following several students as they strive to be ...

'', '' CodeGirl'', ''

It Might Get Loud ''It Might Get Loud'' is a 2008 American documentary film by filmmaker Davis Guggenheim. It explores the careers and musical styles of prominent rock guitarists Jimmy Page, the Edge, and Jack White. The film premiered at the 2008 Toronto Internatio ...

'', and ''

An Inconvenient Truth ''An Inconvenient Truth'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate people about global warming. The film features a slide show that, by Gore's own e ...

'' which won two

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. Chilcott is known for documentaries about social justice issues such as climate change, the environment, women's equality, and education. She most recenty directed the audience favored

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

docuseries, ''Arnold'', about the life of

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

as a

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses o ...

movie star A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor or actress who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and w ...

, and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Career

An award-winning filmmaker, Lesley Chilcott refuses to be boxed in, continuously exploring a variety of topics that engage audiences by tackling myths and illuminating the truth. Social and environmental justice are major passions for the storyteller who has explored these themes in projects such as AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, documenting former vice president

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

’s efforts to fight climate change. The film, which Chilcott produced, won two Oscars® including Best Documentary and Best Original Song and helped spark a worldwide conversation about the state of our planet. Chilcott directed and produced WATSON, an action-adventure documentary centering on Sea Shepherd founder Captain

Paul Watson Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American conservation and environmental movement, environmental activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine c ...

, a man willing to put his own life at risk in a relentless quest to protect the oceans and the marine life within. Shot in the US,

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, and

Kingdom of Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesia, Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has List of islands and towns in Tonga, 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its tota ...

the film interweaves Paul’s harrowing adventures with beautiful underwater cinematography. After premiering at Tribeca, WATSON was picked up by

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily dev ...

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

and aired in 50+ countries in 2020. Previously, Chilcott directed and produced CODEGIRL, which follows an annual competition where teen girls from around the world design an app that solves a problem in their community. Chilcott filmed teams all over the world from

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, documenting how exposure to technology and computer science can transform young girls’ lives. CODEGIRL was the first movie to have its premiere exclusively on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

before hitting theaters and other outlets. The idea for the film came after she directed the short film CODESTARS, which garnered over 20 million views online. Again filming in Costa Rica, in 2014 Chilcott directed the feature documentary, A SMALL SECTION OF THE WORLD, about a village of women coffee producers from the Talamanca mountains. Recent projects have taken deep dives on infamous true crimes that have fascinated our culture for decades by dispelling the mythology that surrounds major moments in our culture. She produced the premium docuseries AMITYVILLE: AN ORIGIN STORY which premiered April 23, 2023 on

MGM+ Epix (pronounced ''epics'' and stylized as P) is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the Epix Entertainment LLC subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), a subsidiary of Amazon's MGM Holdings, Inc. The channel's pr ...

and directed and produced the 6-part docuseries HELTER SKELTER: AN AMERICAN MYTH currently streaming on MGM+. She serves as executive producer of the recently announced Hulu 4-part docuseries MASTERMIND, about Dr.

Ann Burgess Ann C. Wolbert Burgess (born October 2, 1936; middle name also spelled Wolpert) is a researcher whose work has focused on developing ways to assess and treat trauma in rape victims. She is a professor at the William F. Connell School of Nursing a ...

, the architect of the FBI’s infamous “ mindhunter” method. As a producer, she’s also tackled the state of the American education system with WAITING FOR SUPERMAN, for which she won the

Producers Guild Award The Producers Guild of America Awards were originally established in 1990 by the Producers Guild of America as the Golden Laurel Awards, created by PGA Treasurer Joel Freeman with the support of Guild President Leonard Stern, in order to honor ...

for Best Documentary, and in cult rock documentary IT MIGHT GET LOUD she examined the lives of legendary guitarists

The Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is an English-born Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing voca ...

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

and

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

. Other notable Chilcott-produced films include A MOTHER'S PROMISE, the

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

biographical short film and AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER which takes off where AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH left off, further exploring former vice president Al Gore’s crusade to end

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

. She most recently directed ARNOLD, a 3-part docuseries exploring the life and work of Arnold Schwarzenegger which premiered on Netflix June 7, 2023, and after 5 days ranked #4 in the Netflix Global Top 10 most-watched. Other upcoming projects include WOLVES, which examines the plight of wolves in the west and examines their status as one of the most misunderstood animals on the planet and HOT STUFF, a look at the enduring influence of

Disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

. Chilcott is a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

(AMPAS),

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

, and The

Producers Guild of America The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing television producers, film producers and New media, New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 8,000 members of the producing esta ...

. She directs commercials out of Bodega Studios.

Personal life

When not in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

she and her husband love spending time in Costa Rica enjoying nature. As a longtime

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

, Lesley enjoys seeking out vegetarian and

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

cuisine with her husband.

Filmography

Feature-Length Films: * ''

'' (2006) * ''

'' (2008) * '' Waiting for “Superman”'' (2010) *
Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird
' (2013) *
A Small Section of the World
' (2014) * '' CodeGirl'' (2015) * '' An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power'' (2017) *
Maxima
' (2019) * ''

'' (2019) * ''Wolves (Status: In Production)'' Television Series: * '' Helter Skelter: An American Myth'' (2020) * '' Amityville: An Origin Story'' (2022) * ''Arnold'' (2023) * ''Mastermind (Status: In Production)''

References

External links

* *
Official Website
Living people American film producers American documentary film directors American documentary film producers American women documentary filmmakers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women {{US-film-producer-stub