Emily Abt is a notable filmmaker, selected as one of Variety Magazine's 'Top 10 Directors to Watch', known for her ambidexterity in directing both narrative and documentary films. With six feature films under her belt, including two narratives and four documentaries, Abt has established herself as a seasoned documentary cinematographer and branded content director. Her impressive client list includes 23andMe, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, and Oracle.
Abt's independent films have received support from various foundations, including The US-UK Fulbright Commission, New York State Council on the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, Independent Feature Project, Adrienne Shelley Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Paul Robeson Foundation, and the Playboy Foundation.
Her narrative feature "Toe to Toe" received a Grand Jury Award nomination at the Sundance Film Festival and was released by Strand. Her latest fiction feature project "Thirsty" won the Athena Award and is being released worldwide by Gravitas Ventures.
Abt's documentary filmmaking journey began with her first feature documentary "Take It From Me" (PBS's POV series),created when she was just 23 years old and working as a caseworker in New York City. She then pursued her MFA in film directing from Columbia University and was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to make her thesis film. Her subsequent feature documentaries include "All Of Us" (Showtime's 2008 World AIDs Day film) and "Daddy Don't Go", which won eight "Best Documentary" awards and premiered on the Starz network in 2017.
Abt has also directed the feature documentary "Beyond the Opposite Sex" for Showtime, which premiered in Spring 2018. In 2019, she shot and directed the short film "Born A Fighter" commissioned by 23andMe and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
In addition to her documentary work, Abt has co-written the feature comedy "Unborn" with producer George Rush and has been involved in various other projects, including consulting producing the Amazon Studios and Emmy award-winning documentary "Wildcat" and co-producing and editing the forthcoming feature documentary "Transcending Ellenville". She is also developing the Berkeley-based episodic series "Pureland".
Abt has been based in Brooklyn for 20 years, where she was part of a filmmaking community, before moving to the Bay area in 2016 with her partner, UC Berkeley Professor Shamik Dasgupta, and their two daughters. She is a member of New Day Films, Free the Bid, Film Fatales, and the Collective of Documentary Women Cinematographers.
