Jess Search, an influential documentary producer and co-founder of the non-profit organization Doc Society, who believed in the power of documentaries to change the world, passed away at the age of 54.
Throughout her career, she played a vital role in numerous projects, including producing the impactful documentary “The End of the Line,” shedding light on overfishing, the gorilla protection film “Virunga,” and the Oscar-winning “Citizenfour,” which delved into the revelations of whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Before establishing the Doc Society, Jess worked as a commissioning editor in the documentaries department at Channel 4. In 2005, she founded the Britdoc Foundation with the support of her former employer, which later evolved into the renowned Doc Society. This organization collaborated with filmmakers from all over the world to create and finance documentaries.
Colleagues remember her final wish: to secure the Doc Society’s capacity to create films centered around the pressing and interwoven issues of climate change and democracies facing crises.
In a heartfelt statement announcing Jess Search’s passing, the Doc Society expressed, “Jess lived fully these last few weeks. In characteristic humour, she responded to her diagnosis by considering herself a ‘Lucky Fucker’, having lived a life of purpose on her own terms.
She continued to send late-night voice memos, order rounds of margaritas, and bring together an amalgam of global comrades around the shared mission of vital system-shifting narrative work to change the world for the better.”
Real believer in culture and art as mediums for change
Kat Mansoor, a film producer who worked with Search on projects including Here’s Johnny and Cow, said the documentary industry had lost a champion. She said: “She was genuinely trying to change a landscape that is so difficult to traverse. She was a real believer in culture and art as mediums for change.
“She was behind big films that won Oscars and were Bafta-nominated and they all had powerful messages. She fought for them and she made them happen. She fought for the industry and we’re going to have to take up the mantle so we can continue to make films that change minds and move people.”
Search announced her illness last month, saying her organisation operated on a flat power-sharing model and its work would continue under her five co-leaders. She said she was “extremely calm and have literally everything I need” and signed off with a quote from Marcus Aurelius and a playlist of her favourite music.
In her final message, she called on the documentary-making community to “triple-down and build rocket boosters for our shared work”. She also called on distributors, funders and commissioners help to build “a new, equitable, and politically protected indie media distribution system”.
Search said she believed in the power of documentaries to change the world. She said: “To deal with the climate crisis and realise a just transition, the world needs more democracy; the negotiation of a new social contract between people and the state. Doc Society is centring all we have learned in narrative strategy over the past two decades to help address these two critical and intertwined issues.”