Award winning director & writer.
Raised in Yorkshire.
Based in London.
Thanks for dropping by! I’m a 2 x BAFTA nominated director, primarily of tv documentaries, and now venturing into fiction. My second short as a writer/director, ‘Choked Up’ starring Maxine Peake & Adam James, is currently on the festival circuit. Screened at multiple BAFTA and Oscar qualifying festivals and now on Shorts TV and Omeleto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBcVEyC6ZGA
My first short ‘ARM’, is a comedy horror about pandemic isolation, co-created with Katherine Markwick of Hot Ice Theatre. It premiered at London’s Frightfest, screened at multiple film festivals & I won Best Director at the Dublin International Comedy Film Festival. It's now on https://www.arrow-player.com/, the home of cult cinema.
During covid lockdown I wrote 'Fred Gets Feedback', a short fiction to be filmed on Zoom, for a BBC Writersroom opportunity. Of 6800 scripts, mine was one of 8 chosen to be made. The film went on to win a Rose D'Or for Best Multiplatform. You can watch it here on the BBC website.
FOR WRITING / DIRECTING SCRIPTED PLEASE CONTACT MY AGENT:
https://theartistspartnership.co.uk/artist/jill-worsley/
FOR UNSCRIPTED / ANYTHING ELSE PLEASE USE THE CONTACT FORM BELOW
In the last 15 years I’ve directed and produced a wide range of documentary, drama doc, and fact ent programmes. What I love most is setting the style and tone for new series and one-off docs, and I’ve been instrumental in the success of several original series. I want to make films that make people laugh and cry, and I’m always looking to build those highs and lows into the narrative. I develop a great rapport with contributors, and I’ve worked with high profile talent on location around the world. I’m an excellent self-shooter (FS7/C300), and experienced at working with crews on actuality, interviews and drama reconstruction. I’ve been running edits for many years, and I’m used to creating compelling narrative arcs, and script writing for everything from serious crime to comic.
In 2019 I was BAFTA nominated for feature documentary ‘School For Stammerers’. The press described it as ‘a remarkable documentary, told simply and respectfully’, and ‘an emotional journey, for the participant and for the viewer – there are tears all round. Practically drama’. Prior to that I directed and shot the first two series of ‘Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs’, winning multiple awards including 2 NTAs, and a BAFTA nomination.
Directing showreel.
A selection of scenes from films I’ve directed & edit produced.
Filming showreel.
Some examples of my filming from programmes I’ve also directed, scripted & edit produced. For the Paul O’Grady sequences I also had a second camera cross-shooting.
Links to view films.
School for Stammerers
I feel incredibly honoured to have had the chance to make this BAFTA nominated film. The McGuire Programme is an intensive 5 day course where former stammerers help and support stammerers to tackle their fear of speaking. It was truly inspirational to see the bravery of the new students, and the results were incredible - they all gave a speech in Trafalgar Square, and on the last day, spoke in front of all their family and friends without stammering. Not a dry eye in the house! You can watch it HERE.
Paul O’Grady’s Favourite Fairy Tales
Paul O’Grady travels through Germany, discovering the grim roots of his favourite fairy tales. We had a blast filming the comedy interstitial sequences of Paul recreating some of the lost elements of the most well known stories: Rapunzel getting pregnant in her tower, the evil stepmother attempting to eat Snow White’s heart, and Cinderella’s stepmother chopping off the stepsister’s toe, so she could fit in the shoe. You can watch it HERE.
Fred Gets Feedback
My first foray into writing. At the beginning of lockdown, the BBC Writersroom put out a call for short film scripts to be filmed entirely within a video call. I’d seen a headline about people reconnecting with their exes during lockdown, and I thought that would be fun to write. Of 6800 scripts submitted, mine was one of 8 chosen to be made. In November 2021 it won a Rose D’Or for best multiplatform.
You can watch it HERE.