Lizzie Gillett, the producer behind Lady Boss, Merkel and The Territory, has joined McQueen producer Misfits Entertainment as head of documentary.
In the newly-created role, Gillett brings her expertise in docs features to London-based Misfits to build on the company’s slate of award-winning titles, which span documentary series and feature-length titles.
Gillett joins Misfits from Searching For Sugarman producer Passion Pictures, where she spent five years as head of feature docs, part of the documentary division led by David Moulton.
During her tenure, Gillett produced numerous acclaimed titles including BBC /CNN doc Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story, which interwove fact and fiction to tell the story of the groundbreaking author and her mission to build a one-woman literary empire; and Alex Pritz’s Oscar-nominated National Geographic environmental thriller The Territory, co-produced with Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures, which documented conflict in the Amazon.
Gillett’s other high-profile credits include Netflix duo Skandal: Bringing Down Wirecard and Merkel. The former is a financial-focused thriller centred on the team of journalists who uncovered fraudulent behaviour within German payment firm Wirecard, while the latter is a high-end profile of the former German chancellor Angela Merkel, who overcame societal preconceptions to become one of the most respected global leaders.
Misfits was founded seven years ago by Emmy Award-winning and Bafta-nominated filmmakers Ian Bonhôte, Andee Ryder and Peter Ettedgui. The producer is behind Bafta-nominated McQueen, an intimate portrait of the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen.
It has also worked with Passion Pictures on John Battsek and Greg Nugent-produced Rising Phoenix, the double sports Emmy-winning documentary about elite athletes and insiders reflecting on the Paralympic Games and examining the role they play in global understanding of disability, diversity and excellence.
Bonhôte, Ryder and Ettedgui recently produced four-part Sky Documentaries series Kingdom Of Dreams with Fremantle, a “visually dazzling chronicle” of the ‘golden age’ of fashion.
Bonhôte and Ryder said: “We are delighted Lizzie has chosen to join Misfits after five extremely successful years with our friends over at Passion Pictures.
“At Misfits, we strive to create the most thought-provoking, visually-thrilling emotionally-charged films. To achieve this, you need to surround yourself with the best creative minds.
“Lizzie is brilliant at attracting talent and is one of the best non-fiction producers out there. We are beyond proud to bring her in the team and to continue to make diverse films that have an impact in the global marketplace.”
Gillett said she looked forward to “help[ing] build the documentary side of the business, continuing my lifelong ambition of making globally entertaining, commercial docs that have something political to say about the world we live in”.
Moulton, Passion Docs creative director, added: “Lizzie has been a passionate, vocal, and inspirational champion of independent feature documentaries at Passion and we look forward to working with her, on co-productions, in her new role.”
This story first appeared on Screen’s sister site Broadcast
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