KRISTI JACOBSON
Kristi Jacobson, Director/Producer & Founder of Catalyst Films, is an Emmy-winning filmmaker whose films capture nuanced, intimate, and provocative portrayals of individuals and communities. Her films have premiered at the Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals, been released in theaters worldwide and screened on platforms including Netflix, HBO, ESPN, PBS, ABC, CBS and Discovery.
NO ACCIDENT, her latest film for HBO, premiered in October 2023 after winning the Excellence in Directing Award at the Woodstock Film Festival. No Accident is a legal thriller documenting the seminal lawsuit against the neo-Nazi and white supremacist organizers of the deadly “Unite the Right” rally. The film exposes a broad network of conspirators, chilling evidence of their racist and antisemitic intent, and the courage of the everyday citizens who stood up to hate - and the challenges of holding those leaders and organizations liable for their actions. Streaming now on Max.
Her 2017 film, SOLITARY (HBO), is an unflinching exploration of life inside one of America's supermax prisons where inmates live in 8 X 10 cells, 23 hours a day for months, years and sometimes decades. Featuring unprecedented access to Virginia's Red Onion State Prison, the film presents intimate interviews with inmates and staff - and captures a complex, unexpected and deeply moving portrait of life inside. SOLITARY was nominated for two Emmys, winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Documentary as well as a nomination for Independent Spirit’s Truer Than Fiction Award and Cinema Eye Honors Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Nonfiction Film.
In 2021, Jacobson directed HOMEFRONT, part of the HBO/Max and Sesame Workshop series THROUGH OUR EYES, which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and the film was a Columbia-DuPont Award Finalist. HOMEFRONT centers the stories of three children of veteran families coping with the emotional impact of having a wounded parent, navigating the unique challenges of visible and invisible injuries sustained during military service.
Also in 2021, Jacobson directed “ The Protectors” episode of the critically acclaimed Netflix Original Series DOGS; and “I Can’t Change 400 Years in Four” (co-directed with Angela Tucker), a short documentary portrait of Satana Deberry, Durham County’s Black woman D.A. who campaigned on sweeping reform; now in office she is learning just how tough upsetting the status quo can be. This film is co-produced by Chicken & Egg Pictures and Mother Jones, streaming on PBS' Independent Lens.
Jacobson’s 2012 film, A PLACE AT THE TABLE (Participant Media/ Magnolia Pictures), called “one of the most important...and gripping non-fiction films to debut in some time” by Indiewire, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival before its theatrical release in over 35 U.S. cities. The film examines the shocking paradox of hunger in the wealthiest nation on earth through the very personal stories of three American families who face food insecurity daily. The film won the International Documentary Association Pare Lorentz Award, and was nominated for Best Feature Documentary by the Producers Guild of America.
Other credits include the “Cartel Bank” episode of DIRTY MONEY (2018, Netflix); TAKE BACK THE HARBOR (2018 Discovery), co-directed with Roger Ross Williams and produced by Motto Pictures; TOOTS (2007, Tribeca Film Festival, Sundance Channel) National Board of Review Top 5 Documentaries of the Year and The New York Times Critics’ Pick.
Jacobson’s directorial debut, American Standoff, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast on HBO’s award-winning series, America Undercover. The film chronicles the Teamsters Union’s years-long strike against Overnite Transportation, a nationwide freight company that resisted unionization. Produced by two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple.
As producer, Jacobson’s films include Nausheen Dadabhoy’s directorial debut feature, AN ACT OF WORSHIP (POV/PBS), Elaine Sheldon’s RECOVERY BOYS (Netflix) and THE FIRE THAT TOOK HER (Paramount+) winner of 2023 Emmy for Outstanding Crime and Justice Documentary.
Some highlights of Jacobson’s commercial and branded work include the Procter & Gamble 2020 Olympics “Good is Gold” Series of short films featuring Olympic and Paralympians Tom Daley, Allyson Felix, Scout Bassett and Zeina Nasser; “Momentum Shift” for OrangeTheory Fitness, winner of the Brand Films Directing Award; #TheElectionEffect: HEBH (2017, Paramount Network), part of a Webby nominated short film series showcasing life for the next generation of voters following the 2016 election.
Jacobson has appeared on or been featured in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Moyers and Company, CBS Morning News, The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Filmmaker Magazine, Time Magazine, and many more. Her work has received support from the Tribeca Film Institute, Sundance Institute, Bertha Foundation, Ford Foundation, and she is a 2016 recipient of the Chicken & Egg Pictures Breakthrough Filmmaker Award, which aims to support filmmakers to continue to be strong advocates for urgent issues. Jacobson is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Science (AMPAS) and the Director’s Guild of America (DGA). Jacobson is represented for commercials and branded content by NY-based production agency C41 Media.