#106: Lizzie Gillett, Director of Feature Docs at Passion Pictures

This week’s interview is with Lizzie Gillet, the Director of the Feature Documentary Department at Passion Pictures, whose credits include the Oscar-winning SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN, Bart Layton’s THE IMPOSTER, James Marsh’ PROJECT NIM and more recently THE RESCUE. 

Lizzie recently produced THE TERRITORY, a feature documentary co-produced with an Indigenous community in Brazil about their fight to protect their ancestral land in the Amazon rainforest, which the World Cinema Documentary Award at this year’s Sundance. Lizzie also produced LADY BOSS, a feature documentary directed by Laura Fairrie about trailblazing life of novelist Jackie Collins. 

We talk about her first foray into producing feature docs by making the climate change documentary THE AGE OF STUPID and how that led to the 10:10 global campaign to cut carbon emissions, how crowdfunding played a big part in financing that film before crowdfunding was a thing and whether she felt any pressure to replicate the success of that. We also discuss how she arrived at Passion Pictures, what she’s responsible for and what it means to direct a department, supporting the filmmakers she works with and what she’s learnt along the way. 

Lizzie was brilliant interviewee and someone I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with, so I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation.