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

​

POLITICAL ANIMALS (2016), 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 eight other festivals. She produced and shot BOMB IT, a feature documentary about graffiti around the globe and who has the right to express themselves in public space (Tribeca Film Festival 2007). She also co-produced SMOKIN’ FISH (PBS and IDFA 2011) and was cinematographer for GAY REPUBLICANS (AFI’s Audience Award 2004).

​

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 (2003) about child soldiers in Burma. She later returned to India as Clinton Fellow in 2011-2012 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 Series Producer for THE ICE CREAM SHOW (2018) and supervising producer for the true crime series I WAS A TEENAGE FELON (2019) on VICELAND and HULU.

​

She's also directed and produced branded content, including short documentaries for FOX’s TV series “The Exorcist” and STARZ “The Girlfriend Experience”. For Tastemade she directed the 3-part short documentary series WEATHER WARRIORS, highlighting individuals coming up with solutions to the impacts of climate change.

​

Most recently, she’s been showrunning and directing documentary series.  For YouTube Originals’ series ALMOST READY (2019) at IPC, she followed actress Shay Mitchell’s pregnancy and journey to motherhood. At SpringHill Company she was showrunner of THE TURNING POINT, a series about social justice issues. For ATTN: Studios and Discovery +/ MAX she was showrunner and director of the series WHAT AM I EATING? (2023) with Zooey Deschanel, which received an Emmy nomination.

 

Wares’ work has aired on MAX, Disney +, 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.