Laura Nix has been named as the 2017 Sundance Institute and Discovery Impact Fellow, Deadline reports. “The Yes Men are Revolting” director is the second recipient of the fellowship, which “honors directors who tell stories that deal with environmental issues and whose work grapples with the threats to the planet.” The announcement was made at Discovery Channel’s reception at Sundance Film Festival.
“Laura has established herself as an exciting voice in the documentary film world by telling stories of people working to change the way we think about our environment,” said John Hoffman, Executive Vice President of Documentaries and Specials, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and Science Channel.
Nix commented, “Receiving this recognition from these two powerful organizations in the documentary film world is such an honor. Their acknowledgement of me as a filmmaker, and not just a specific film, is a true testament to each of their commitments to supporting directors with the freedom to do the work we love,” she emphasized.
According to her Instagram account, Nix is currently working on “Brainiacs,” a doc about “young scientists from all over the world who are confronting the environmental crisis with scientific research.”
“The work I’ve made in my career has been driven by what I get obsessed about, and it’s a wide path,” Nix, who has over seventy production credits, told Women and Hollywood in 2014. “My first feature was a fictional comedic melodrama, my most recent documentary was about a Qur’an school for girls in Syria, and [‘The Yes Men are Revolting’] is about activism and climate change.” She explained, “I do think it’s important to claim your definition of the word success. For me that’s getting to spend time on a subject and in a world that I find fascinating. I don’t think there’s a greater pleasure.”