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Draft:Jill Campbell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jill Campbell
Campbell in 2026
EducationHunter College (MFA)
Occupations
  • Documentary filmmaker
  • producer
  • film editor
Known for
  • Mr. Chibbs
  • Seat 20D
  • Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell's Swimsuit Issue

Jill Campbell is an American documentary filmmaker, producer, and film editor based in New York. She has directed three feature-length documentaries: Mr. Chibbs (2017), a portrait of former NBA All-Star Kenny Anderson;[1] Seat 20D (2020), about the artist Suse Lowenstein;[2] and Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell's Swimsuit Issue (2024), about Jule Campbell, the founding editor of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.[3][4]

Early life and education

[edit]

Campbell began her career in theater, writing and producing plays in New York City before moving into documentary filmmaking.[5] Her play Chemistry of Love, a satire of the New York art world, was staged at La MaMa E.T.C. in May 2013, directed by George Ferencz.[6] She has said she first became involved in film while helping on Anne Bass's documentary Dancing Across Borders, on which she worked as an associate producer.[5] She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the Integrated Media Arts (IMA) program at Hunter College, where she concentrated on documentary filmmaking.[5]

Career

[edit]

Documentary films

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Campbell's first feature documentary as director, Mr. Chibbs (2017), follows the retired basketball player Kenny Anderson through a mid-life crisis a decade after leaving the NBA.[1][7] The film had its world premiere at DOC NYC in 2016 and was released theatrically the following year through Abramorama, including a run at Manhattan's IFC Center.[8][7] Reviews were mixed. The Village Voice named it a Critic's Pick, describing the film as a sympathetic portrait of a man reconciling his gifts with his burdens and praising Campbell's pacing.[5][9] Daniel M. Gold of The New York Times found Anderson a candid subject but felt the film never examined what drives him,[10] while The Playlist called it formulaic but ultimately a resonant, minor-key portrait.[11]

Her second feature, Seat 20D (2020), profiles the sculptor Suse Lowenstein, whose son Alexander was killed in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, and her large-scale memorial sculpture Dark Elegy.[2] The film was released by First Run Features in October 2020.[2][12] Sandra Bertrand of Highbrow Magazine praised it as an eloquent and stirring depiction of Lowenstein, her sculpture, and the families affected by it.[12]

Jill Campbell, Jule Campbell, and Elle Macpherson in 2022

Campbell's third feature, Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell's Swimsuit Issue (2024), examines the career of Jule Campbell, who edited the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue for more than three decades. Campbell, who is Jule Campbell's daughter-in-law, directed, produced and edited the film.[13][3] It premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival in October 2024, where Campbell was nominated for the festival's award for directing a documentary,[4][5] and screened at the Newport Beach Film Festival the same month.[14] On the 2025 festival circuit, it won the award for Best Documentary at the Omaha Film Festival and placed second in the documentary competition at the Phoenix Film Festival.[15][16] The film was released in June 2025 through Tribeca Films.[17] Ethan Padgett of Film Threat called it "one of the year's most compelling and thought-provoking documentaries",[14] and the Alliance of Women Film Journalists selected it as Movie of the Week, with Nell Minow describing it as a sympathetic but even-handed portrait.[17] Former Sports Illustrated editor Terry McDonell wrote about the film and Jule Campbell's legacy in Air Mail,[18] and Campbell discussed it on Morning Joe.[19]

Other work

[edit]

Beyond her own films, Campbell has worked as a producer; her credits include the American Masters documentary Never Too Late: The Doc Severinsen Story.[5] In 2015 she was among the filmmakers selected for the Killer Films / Stony Brook Southampton "20/20/20" program, and she has been a resident artist at Mabou Mines.[5] A member of the Producers Guild of America, she has chaired its documentary salon series, and has taught as an adjunct instructor at Purchase College and Adelphi University.[5]

Filmography

[edit]
YearTitleRoleNotes
2017Mr. ChibbsDirector, writer, producerDocumentary about Kenny Anderson[1]
2020Seat 20DDirector, producer, editorDocumentary about Suse Lowenstein[2]
2024Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell's Swimsuit IssueDirector, producer, editorDocumentary about Jule Campbell[4]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 Scheck, Frank (5 May 2017). "'Mr. Chibbs': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Seat 20D – Jill Campbell's Documentary on Suse Lowenstein's "Dark Elegy"". Woman Around Town. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  3. 1 2 "'Beyond the Gaze' Trailer: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Doc Pays Tribute to the Annual Issue's Creator, Jule Campbell". IndieWire. 19 June 2025. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 "'Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell's Swimsuit Issue' Set to Premiere at Woodstock Film Festival". Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. 17 September 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The Filmmaker Four: Jill Campbell". Berkshire International Film Festival. April 2025. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  6. ↑ Litt, Larry (5 May 2013). "Chemistry of Love". New York Theatre Wire. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Kenny Anderson opens up in documentary 'Mr. Chibbs'". amNewYork. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  8. ↑ "Mr. Chibbs". DOC NYC. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  9. ↑ Donadoni, Serena (3 May 2017). "Kenny Anderson, In Repose: "Mr. Chibbs" Explores the Afterlife of an NBA Player". The Village Voice. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  10. ↑ Gold, Daniel M. (2 May 2017). "Review: In 'Mr. Chibbs,' Kenny Anderson Tries Another Shot". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  11. ↑ Garrison, Gary (14 November 2016). "Doc 'Mr. Chibbs' Is a Minor Key Look at the Midlife Crisis of Basketball Star Kenny Anderson [DOC NYC Review]". The Playlist. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  12. 1 2 Bertrand, Sandra (23 October 2020). "How One Grieving Artist Turned Tragedy Into Art". Highbrow Magazine. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  13. ↑ O'Bleness, Cara (7 December 2022). "SI Swimsuit Founding Editor Jule Campbell Has Died at Age 96". Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  14. 1 2 Padgett, Ethan (25 October 2024). "Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell's Swimsuit Issue". Film Threat. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  15. ↑ "Results from the 2025 OFF". Omaha Film Festival. 17 March 2025. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  16. ↑ "2025 Award Winners". Phoenix Film Festival. 2025. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  17. 1 2 Merin, Jennifer (22 June 2025). "Movie of the Week June 27, 2025: Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell's Swimsuit Issue". Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  18. ↑ McDonell, Terry (21 June 2025). "Less Was More". Air Mail. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  19. ↑ "Trailblazer in a sexist era: New documentary honors the visionary behind the SI Swimsuit edition". Morning Joe. MS NOW. Retrieved 8 September 2026.