Passion Pictures Signs Head Of Features To Discover Next Generation Of Female Documentary Directors In UK
EXCLUSIVE: Passion Pictures has snapped up the development exec behind its buzzy Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story feature with a view to discovering the next generation of British female documentary directors.
Emily Jeal takes on the newly-created role of Head of Feature Documentaries. Her hire is partly intended to help free up time for CEO Nick Southgate, Managing Director David Moulton and Creative Director Hamish Fergusson to focus attention on limited and talent-led returnable TV series.
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Jeal played a key role in developing Super/Man, the heartwrenching story about Reeves’ life-changing disability that attracted plenty attention at Sundance and was acquired by Warner, while she also worked across Passion’s Kim Kardashian-produced Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar.
Speaking exclusively to Deadline, Moulton said Super/Man was never a “slam dunk project” but Jeal’s “creativity and tenacity” during a lengthy development period was crucial to getting funders on board.
“Our sweet spot is commercial projects with a purpose and Emily has special skills in that vein,” he added. “She’s really got into the world of feature docs in terms of understanding that established talent base while trying to work with the next generation and identifying the great British talent within that.”
With this in mind, Jeal, whose past employers include British indies Dragonfly and Minnow, is tasked with leading Passion’s charge to bring through the next generation of female directors, and a number of projects on her development slate are helmed by women.
The UK doc industry has been grappling with a lack of female director representation for years. A peer support network, We Are Doc Women, was launched but research late last year found that the proportion of UK factual shows directed by women actually fell slightly to 24% between August 2019 and April 2022. Numerous broadcasters and indies including the BBC, Channel 4, Louis Theroux’s Mindhouse and Hillary Clinton’s HiddenLight have committed to having half of their UK factual shows directed by women.
“There is a huge hole in the sector,” said Moulton. “We have always backed women directors but are trying to do so in a more sustainable way because you have to back them for some time to get noticed. The likes of Netflix are very open to working with that talent and now we need to persuade investors to back them.”
The “risk averse environment” in docs has become “self repeating,” Southgate added. “If you only back people who are successful then you don’t give anyone else a chance, and that’s the cycle we are trying to break,” he said.
How ‘Super/Man’ cut through
The intense interest in Super/Man is reflective of the current penchant for stories about famous people that peak behind the curtain, such as Netflix’s Pamela, A Love Story, Southgate added.
“The stories that cut through aren’t just biopics of superstars, they have to be ‘something plus’,” he added. “The reason Reeve’s story was so emotional is because of his relationship with his family. You cry because you see his relationship completely switched off from when he was able-bodied to when he was disabled, and [his family] speak about it so profoundly.”
While the movie was made with the Reeve family’s permission, Moulton stressed that Passion always makes “honest versions” about its subjects, and would not accept a project such as Netflix’s Beckham, for which the subject’s production company has a credit, or Harry & Meghan, made by the duo’s Archewell.
As Jeal gets to work, Moulton and Southgate will pivot focus to limited series and returnables, with Moulton saying he is working up a slate of talent-led projects for the latter, citing the success of the likes of CNN double Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico and Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy.
Moulton described a “Super/Man effect” that has seen an uptick in interest from the likes of Hulu, Amazon and Netflix in Passion projects.
“Having success with Super/Man has opened up avenues in Hollywood,” he added. “Broadcasters want big name talent so we are doing a lot of work on that.”
Bosses at three-time Oscar-winning Passion are at Tribeca this week, where they are launching Rebel Nun and Antidote, the former about a nun who became an anti death penalty activist and the latter following a whistleblower from inside Russia’s poison program as he attempts to escape.
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