ashley york here
the award-winning director of the netflix original documentary, tig & hillbilly
Ashley York is a journalist and documentary filmmaker who is committed to a feminist approach. Her work has taken her from America’s prisons to its Native American reservations. She has worked on Academy Award®-winning teams and on projects that have won top honors and premiered at the Sundance, Los Angeles, Berlin, and SXSW film festivals, and on Apple, Netflix, A&E, National Geographic, HBO, and the Sundance Channel. Her film, Appalachian Futures, was commissioned and on display at The Smithsonian. Her film, Hillbilly, won the Grand Jury prize for Best Documentary at the 2018 Los Angeles Film Festival, a London Foreign Press Association Award, and a Michael Moore Founders Award for Best Documentary at the Traverse City Film Festival. She directed the Netflix Original Documentary Tig, an Official Selection of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, IDFA, the Istanbul Independent Documentary Festival, and Outfest.
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women & girls
Ashley's work has been recognized for its commitment to highlighting women and girls and received an Emmy Award nomination in the category of New Approaches to News and Documentary Film as well as the prestigious Governors' Award from the Academy of Arts & Sciences. She has collaborated with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and the International Crisis Group. She was featured in Variety as a “filmmaker to watch.” She is an adjunct associate professor in the USC School of Cinematic Arts and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and 6-year-old daughter, Hazel, who inspired her production company, Hazeltime, which is committed to challenging the boundaries of storytelling and reimagining narratives through a socially conscious lens.
ARTISTIC approach
My work has taken me from America’s prisons to its Native American reservations and seeks to build on the long history of non-fiction work that addresses the most pressing social issues and challenges of our time. My work focuses on the Appalachian region of the United States; incarcerated communities; the experiences of women and girls; and the queer community. My point of view is derived from being a woman and mom.
I founded and run Hazeltime, a women-led creative studio committed to ethical producing practices, challenging the boundaries of storytelling, and reimagining narratives and business models through a socially conscious lens. Hazeltime is committed to an intersectional feminist approach, advocating for parity in the entertainment industry, and creating an equitable work environment that welcomes moms and dads and values the needs of working people.
I have a BA degree in journalism from the University of Kentucky and an MFA from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts.
so many friends
This film centers the themes of celebrating Appalachian identity, and reimagining Appalachia as a region with opportunities for youth. “We want a hopeful future. We want liberation and freedom,” says Meykah Davis, co-chair of The Stay Project, a network of young people, aged 14-30, who are committed to supporting one another to make Appalachia a place they can and want to STAY. The Stay Project is a catalyst for grassroots organizing and movement building in Appalachia and the South. It works with people fighting for justice, equality and sustainability, supporting their efforts to take collective action to shape their own destiny.