Lucy Walker

Lucy Walker grew up in London, England and read English Literature at Oxford University. She wrote and directed for the stage, including hit musical productions of THE JUNGLE BOOK and TINTIN, winning honors including the Oxford University Dramatic Society Spirit Award and Best Production Prize. In 1992 she was given a Fulbright Scholarship to attend NYU’’s Graduate Film Program. Once there, she was awarded a full NYU scholarship and graduated with an MFA. She is still based in New York.

Lucy has been nominated for a 2000-2001 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children’’s Series for Nickelodeon’’s BLUE’’S CLUES, currently the top-rated young children’’s show. Lucy has written and directed for the show since 1998, and a special event episode BLUE’’S PAJAMA PARTY, directed by Lucy, broke audience ratings records for children’’s programming in prime-time and was a commercial hit on its video release. Lucy has also co-written a children’’s theatrical feature MAGIC SNOWMAN RETURNS which is set for production next winter.

As the director of the documentary THE DEVIL’’S PLAYGROUND: AMISH TEENAGERS IN THE MODERN WORLD, Lucy spent much of 1999 and 2000 in Amish communities in Elkhart and LaGrange counties in Indiana, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and Sarasota, Florida. The film was commissioned by HBO and Channel 4 and is co-produced by Winstar. Currently completing post-production, it is a feature-length exploration of the decision which Amish youth must make as to whether or not to join the Amish church and commit to a lifetime in the community – and the period of freedom, experimentation and confusion which culminates in this decision.

Lucy has also made several award-winning short films, both documentary and dramatic, which have screened at festivals internationally. A recent dramatic short ONE TWO THREE was singled out for the Best of the Festival at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and described as “funny yet touching, an impressive piece done with eye-catching style” by The Daily Express, The film also won a Helena Rubenstein prize and was funded by the Warner Bros. Pictures Production Fund.

Previously Lucy has directed spots including a Panasonic campaign and Japanese television promos, as well as music videos including Cowboy Junkies’’ FLOORBOARD BLUES and Byzar’’s PHYLYX for Asphodel Records, which aired on MTV’’s Amp and music television worldwide. LEAVING GRACE, a documentary short which followed an eighth-grade class through their final year together, was produced by two-time Academy-Award winner Barbara Kopple, and Lucy’’s fellow co-directors were 1999 Academy Award Winner Keiko Ibi (THE PERSONALS) and 2000 Academy Award Nominee Brett Morgen (ON THE ROPES).