Saville Productions Signs Emmy-Nominated Director Dawn Porter

Venice-based production company Saville Productions has signed Emmy-nominated documentary director Dawn Porter for US commercial and branded entertainment representation. Porter selects cultural stories that hold strong public perceptions and strips them of their preconceived notions, revealing fresh perspectives and insights. She has revealed impactful truths in documentaries such as Gideon’s Army (2013), which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and won the Best Documentary Editing Award, Spies of Mississippi (2014) and Trapped (2016), which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and has won the prestigious 2017 Peabody Award, among others. 

Click here to view a selection of Porter’s work.

Porter honed her ability to draw forth stirring, honest narratives through her experiences litigating in law and managing ethical practices for such top television networks as ABC and A&E. Drawn to projects that present clarity, Porter lifts the curtain on often political and controversial topics to provide insight into her subjects’ earnest motivations. Having developed a craft in law that aims to find and display organic authenticity, Porter infuses that truth-driven approach to inform the directorial style that she brings to documentary and commercial projects.

Notes Saville Productions Executive Producer Rupert Maconick, “Porter brings an authentic approach to her beautifully constructed stories that will benefit the commercial and branded entertainment world. She is a strong asset to Saville and will continue to shine with fantastic narrative-driven productions.”

Adds Porter, “Rupert has a great reputation for being an incredibly creative hustler. I had other documentarian friends, including Morgan Neville and Dan Krauss, who worked with him and liked him very much. Saville is flexible, creative and really tries to match their filmmakers with clients who appreciate their original style.”

After graduating from Swarthmore College and Georgetown Law Center, Porter practiced with Baker & Hostetler, before serving as Director of Standards and Practices at ABC News and A&E Television Networks, respectively. Porter segued her career into filmmaking with her debut HBO documentary Gideon’s Army, which won the Sundance Film Festival Editing Award and the Tribeca All-Access Creative Promise Award, and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and Emmy Award. Other noteworthy laurels include her nationally-televised interview with President Obama for her film Rise: The Promise of My Brother’s Keeper, which was broadcast on The Discovery Channel and The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) in 2015.

Porter currently resides in San Francisco, CA and is at work on an upcoming four-part series for Netflix.