Lilly Hartley is an American documentary film producer and actress, and the founder of Candescent Films.

Lilly Hartley
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Founder & creative producer,
Candescent Films
Years active2000–present
Websitecandescentfilms.com

Early life and education edit

Hartley was raised in East Hampton, New York and New York City.[1] Her father is a playwright and graduate of the Yale School of Drama and her mother is a scientist.[2] Her godfather, Ken Howard, was an actor and was president of the Screen Actors Guild.[2] Her grandfather, Benjamin Epstein, worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the Civil Rights Movement in his role as national director of the Anti-Defamation League.[2] She majored in history and English in college and graduated summa cum laude.[2] She studied acting at William Esper Studio, completing the two-year program.[2]

Career edit

Hartley founded Candescent Films in 2010.[3][4] The film production company supports documentary films exploring social issues.[5] Prior to founding the company, Hartley worked as an actress[3] and production executive.[5] She is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and Producers Guild of America.[3]

The first film supported by Candescent was The Queen of Versailles, which was the opening night film at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival,[3] and was nominated for a DGA Award,[6] IDA Award[7] and Critics' Choice Award.[8] Hartley served as an executive producer.[9] As a producer on Sons of the Clouds, a documentary exploring human rights issues in Western Sahara and starring Javier Bardem, Hartley won the 2013 Goya Award for Best Documentary Film.[10] In 2014, Hartley partnered with the Tribeca Film Institute to develop a Candescent Award for films that premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. The inaugural recipient of this award was Nas: Time Is Illmatic (2014).[11]

Some of Hartley's other work includes executive producing Who Is Dayani Cristal? starring Gael García Bernal,[12] executive producing Private Violence, which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival,[13] and producing Likeness, a short film starring Elle Fanning and directed by Rodrigo Prieto.[4][11] Hartley executive produced The Departure, directed by Lana Wilson.[14][15] Hartley executive produced the big game hunting documentary Trophy, which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, where it was acquired by CNN Films and The Orchard.[16] Hartley also executive produced Generation Wealth.[17][18]

Filmography edit

Year Title Credited as Notes
2010 Dirty Girl Associate producer
An Invisible Sign Associate producer
2012 The Queen of Versailles Co-executive producer Nominated for DGA Award, IDA Award and Critics' Choice Award
Sons of the Clouds Producer Won 2013 Goya Award for Best Documentary Film
2013 Who Is Dayani Cristal? Executive producer
Remote Area Medical Executive producer
Likeness Producer Short film; nominated for Webby Award
2014 Private Violence Executive producer Won Candescent Award; nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Programming – Long Form[19]
1971 Co-executive producer Won 2015 International Documentary Association ABCNews VideoSource Award[20] and 2015 Cinema Eye Honors Spotlight Award.[21] Named a 2016 Peabody Award finalist.[22]
2017 The Departure Executive producer Nominated for 2017 Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature[23]
Trophy Executive producer
2018 Generation Wealth Executive producer Nominated for 2018 WGA Award for Best Documentary Screenplay[24]
2019 Fantasy Island Executive producer

References edit

  1. ^ Team bios, 1971film.com. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e Dishman, Lydia (October 7, 2014). "How One Producer Went From Actress to 'Filmanthropist'". Fast Company. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d Linda Hassler, “Lilly Hartley’s Candescent Films Shines Its Light On Documentaries,” Huffington Post, June 4, 2014.
  4. ^ a b Susan McPherson, "Meet the Filmanthropist: Lilly Hartley," Forbes, August 20, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Mike Fleming Jr, “Candescent Films Launches With Jeff Nichols, Javier Bardem, R.J. Cutler Pics,” Deadline Hollywood, September 21, 2011.
  6. ^ “Bravo Gears Up For ‘Queen of Versailles’ April 29th Premiere: NBC Press Day,” Deadline.com, April 22, 2013.
  7. ^ Peter Knegt, “’Central Park Five,’ ‘Queen of Versailles’ Among IDA Documentary Award Nominees,” Indiewire, October 22, 2012.
  8. ^ “Critics’ Choice Awards 2013: Complete List of Nominations,” E! Online, December 11, 2012.
  9. ^ Pamela McClintock, “Sundance: Candescent Films Announces 2014 Documentary Awards,” The Hollywood Reporter, January 18, 2014.
  10. ^ “Javier Bardem All Smiles at Goya Awards,” Fox News Latino, February 18, 2013.
  11. ^ a b Pamela McClintock, “Tribeca: Nas Documentary ‘Time is Illmatic’ to Receive Inaugural Candescent Award,” The Hollywood Reporter, April 2, 2014.
  12. ^ Edward Helmore, "Backlash over US border patrol 'bullying' migrants," The Guardian, June 21, 2014.
  13. ^ Neil Genzlinger, "In a Portrait of Violence, an Appeal for Reform," New York Times, October 19, 2014.
  14. ^ Macaulay, Scott (13 Oct 2017). "Director Lana Wilson Talks Gaining Trust, Valuing Life and Her Wise, Empathetic Suicide Prevention Doc, The Departure". Filmmaker Magazine.
  15. ^ Scheck, Frank (12 Oct 2017). "'The Departure': Film Review". Hollywood Reporter.
  16. ^ Mia Galuppo, "Sundance: Orchard, CNN Films Partner for Hunting Doc 'Trophy'," The Hollywood Reporter, January 20, 2017.
  17. ^ Fienberg, Daniel (18 Jan 2018). "'Generation Wealth': Film Review". Hollywood Reporter.
  18. ^ Baughan, Nikki (15 Feb 2018). "'Generation Wealth': Berlin Review". Screen Daily.
  19. ^ Nate Von Zumwalt, "Going Clear, Viola Davis, and Others Cap Off a Groundbreaking 67th Emmy Awards," Sundance.org, September 22, 2015.
  20. ^ "30th Annual IDA Awards," documentary.org. Accessed February 16, 2015.
  21. ^ "2015 Cinema Eye Honors Announces Winners," Cinema Eye Honors, January 8, 2015.
  22. ^ "The 60 Peabody Finalists," Peabody Awards. Accessed April 18, 2016.
  23. ^ "Independent Spirit Awards winners 2018: See the full list". Entertainment Weekly. 3 Mar 2018.
  24. ^ "Writers Guild Film Nominations: 'Roma', 'Black Panther', 'Eighth Grade' & More". Deadline Hollywood. 7 Jan 2019.

External links edit