With more than a decade of funding documentaries under her belt, BRITDOC CEO Jess Search is poised to join Kickstarter, the crowdfunding organization that helps all kinds of projects find financing. According to Variety, Search is Kickstarter’s newest board member. This marks the first time an individual outside of Kickstarter has joined the company’s board since 2010.
“We’re honored to have our friend Jess join our board of directors,” Kickstarter founder and chairman Perry Chen announced. “BRITDOC is an amazing organization that works every day to support filmmakers who tell critical stories. Her leadership and experience are an incredible addition to Kickstarter as we work to help bring creative projects to life.”
Kickstarter’s only other female board member is Sunny Bates, CEO of innovation firm Sunny Bates Associates.
Since its 2009 launch, Kickstarter has helped raise $378 million for about 23,000 film projects.
Search has been BRITDOC’s CEO since 2005. Before that she served as commissioning editor at UK public broadcaster Channel 4.
Elise McCave, Search’s former BRITDOC colleague, was brought on as Kickstarter’s new Director of Narrative Film last winter. Prior to her hiring, McCave served as Deputy Director at BRITDOC for eight years.
Laura Poitras’ “Citizenfour,” Nanfu Wang’s “Hooligan Sparrow,” and Jehane Noujaim’s “The Square,” are among the docs funded by BRITDOC. The Sabaah Folayan co-directed “Whose Streets,” an upcoming documentary about the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake Michael Brown’s death, has also received support from BRITDOC.
