Tracy Wares is an award-winning documentary director and television producer with experience filming on six different continents.

 

POLITICAL ANIMALS, a feature documentary she directed about four women lawmakers who pioneered LGBTQ rights, won the Jury and Audience Awards for Best Documentary at the 2016 LA Film Festival, and best documentary at seven other festivals. She produced and shot BOMB IT, a theatrically released feature documentary about graffiti around the globe and who has the right to express themselves in public spaces (Tribeca Film Festival 2007). She also co-produced SMOKIN’ FISH  (PBS and IDFA 2011), was cinematographer for GAY REPUBLICANS (AFI’s Audience Award 2004), and shot on TRANSGENERATION (Sundance Channel 2005).

 

Wares began directing documentaries with ROYAL DRAG (1998), about the drag ball scene in San Francisco. She went on to live and work extensively overseas; including India where she filmed the documentary SHAKTI (2001) about women’s roles and agency in Hinduism, and Thailand where she made NO CHILDHOOD AT ALL 2 about child soldiers in Burma. She later returned to India in 2011-2012 as a Clinton Fellow to focus her skills on training citizen journalists.

 

She’s directed and produced documentaries for VICE Media; including episodes covering foie gras and bluefin tuna for the series POLITICS OF FOOD (2014-15), maternity leave and the abortion pill for the series OVARY ACTION (2015-2016) and ASCENDING AFGHANISTAN: Women Rising (2016) about the country's first women's mountaineering team. She was the Series Producer for the THE ICE CREAM SHOW (2018) and supervising producer for the true crime series I WAS A TEENAGE FELON (2019) on VICELAND and HULU.

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She's also directed branded content, including short documentaries for FOX’s TV series “The Exorcist” and STARZ “The Girlfriend Experience”. In addition, she directed a 3-part short documentary series for Tastemade and ServPro highlighting individuals innovating solutions to the impact of natural disasters called WEATHER WARRIORS.

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She was director and showrunner of the YouTube Originals series ALMOST READY, following the journey of pregnancy to motherhood of actress Shay Mitchell. She was also showrunner of THE TIPPING POINT, a documentary series about social justice issues, at SpringHill Company. Her last project was showrunning and directing a new 6-part series called WHAT AM I EATING with Zooey Deschanel for ATTN: Studios and Discovery +. 

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Wares’ work has aired on ABC, PBS, CW, TNT, Sundance, NatGeo, Discovery, A&E Bio, WEtv, Trio, TLC, Hulu and VICELAND. One of the few women in the industry who shoots and produces in extreme outdoor environments, she continues to travel the world making documentaries and television programming.