Biography

Jilann Spitzmiller is director, writer and producer of fiction and nonfiction films with over 20 awards for her feature documentary work. She recently was accepted into Sundance Co//ab's television writing track with a dramedy series and was then invited to work one-on-one with a renowned EP/showrunner to polish the pilot script. Jilann was Head of Nonfiction at Meow Wolf, where she made the feature Meow Wolf: Origin Story, garnering 100% on Rotten Tomatoes for over 6 months. The film was released in 600+ theatres after a raucous SXSW premiere. She also directed two fiction shorts for Meow Wolf's newest exhibit in Las Vegas as part of the in-exhibition, immersive storyworld content. Jilann has been supported multiple times by ITVS, The Sundance Institute and many other foundations for her doc work. Additional credits include the cult favorite Shakespeare Behind Bars, which premiered in competition at Sundance Film Festival, and was funded by Sundance Institute, BBC Storyville and ITVS. It went on to win 11 awards, play on Sundance Channel, Starz/Encore, PBS and widely internationally. Jilann also directed the award-winning features Still Dreaming and Homeland, which aired nationally on PBS. Homeland was selected for ITVS' True Stories, a curated series that traveled the world highlighting authentic American stories. Her work has also appeared on NBC, BBC, POV, Al Jazeera, CBC, Canal+, VH1, Discovery and many more around the globe. Jilann directed and wrote episodic documentary for Discovery and NBC as well as directing and shooting episodic content for Bravo and A&E. She has mentored at labs and festivals such as the Latino Producers Academy, AFI Docs, Berkeley Advanced Media Institute and Oregon Doc Camp.
- IMDb mini biography by: Jilann Spitzmiller