Lucy walker david hockney biography
Home / General Biography Information / Lucy walker david hockney biography
Her advertising work has been honored with multiple Clios and Cannes Lions. For Netflix she executive produced RAM DASS, GOING HOME and produced WHY DID YOU KILL ME?
Walker grew up in London, England and studied English Language and Literature at New College, a constituent college of Oxford University, receiving a BA Hons, MA Oxon with first class honors and also directing plays before winning a Fulbright to attend NYU's Graduate Film Program.
Her films have won over 100 awards including two at Sundance and two at Berlin and include Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, Of Night and Light: The Story of Ibogaine, Bring Your Own Brigade, The Lion's Mouth Opens, The Crash Reel, The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom, Waste Land, Countdown to Zero, Blindsight, and Devil's Playground.
Her first feature, DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND (HBO), was nominated for three Emmys.
Her short films include Emmy- and Oscar-nominated THE TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM (HBO), Emmy-nominated THE LION’S MOUTH OPENS (HBO), and DAVID HOCKNEY IN THE NOW, commissioned by LACMA.
Walker has directed and executive produced popular series HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MIND (Netflix) and DEFYING GRAVITY: THE UNTOLD STORY OF WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS (YouTube Originals).
Aside from projects which she has directed herself, she has executive produced Oscar-shortlisted Ram Dass, Going Home(2018), and produced Why Did You Kill Me? (2021), both Netflix Originals.
Walker is based in Venice, CA where she curates TEDxVeniceBeach. Other films include The Crash Reel(2013), which won an Emmy and the Cinema Eye for Best Broadcast Documentary and was shortlisted for an Oscar and nominated for a Gotham; Waste Land(2010), about artist Vik Muniz’s collaboration with the catadores who harvest recyclables from the largest garbage dump in the world in Rio de Janeiro, which was theatrically released by Arthouse and went on to be nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar and to win two IDA awards including Best Documentary; Countdown to Zero(2010), about nuclear weapons, which was in Official Selection at Cannes and was theatrically released by Magnolia and Participant; Blindsight(2006), about blind Everest submitter Erik Weihenmayer leading an expedition with blind students from Tibet, which won at Berlin and AFI and was Oscar-shortlisted; and Devil’s Playground(2002), about Amish teenagers and their rumspringa period of experimentation, which was nominated for three Emmys and the Independent Spirit for Best Documentary.
She grew up in London and read English Language and Literature at Oxford University, graduating with a starred first class BA Hons, MA Oxon. Bring Your Own Brigade (2021), a think piece about wild fires, was released theatrically by Paramount, streams on Paramount+ and CBSN, and was listed #5 in the New York Times’ Top 10 Best Movie of 2021, with A.O.
Scott writing that “its open-mindedness, compassion and intellectual rigor provide a buffer against despair”. Here are the key works.
Nickeleodeon’s Blue’s Clues (20 episodes as director, 1999-2002)
Devil’s Playground (feature, 2002)
Blindsight (feature, 2006)
Waste Land (feature, 2010)
Countdown to Zero (feature, 2010)
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (short, 2011)
David Hockney IN THE NOW (short, 2013)
The Crash Reel (feature, 2013)
The Lion’s Mouth Opens (short, 2014)
Wolvesmouth (short, 2016)
Ram Dass, Going Home (as producer, directed by Derek Peck, short, 2017)
Buena Vista Social Club: Adios (feature, 2017)
Oh, What a Beautiful City (short, 2017)
Defying Gravity: The Untold Story of Women’s Gymnastics (series, 2020)
Bring Your Own Brigade (feature, 2021)
Why Did You Kill Me?
(as producer, directed by Fredrick Munk, feature, 2021)
How To Change Your Mind (series, 2022)
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa (feature, 2024)
Of Night and Light: The Story of Ibogaine (feature, 2024)
Image Gallery
Lucy Walker is an Emmy-Winning, twice Oscar-nominated director who has been called “reliably excellent” by the Daily Telegraph, and a unique talent for “nonfiction fare that connects with audiences” by Variety.
Her feature documentaries include MOUNTAIN QUEEN: THE SUMMITS OF LHAKPA SHERPA (Netflix), BRING YOUR OWN BRIGADE (Paramount+), #5 in the New York Times Top Ten Best Films of 2021, critics' pick BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB ADIOS, Emmy-winning THE CRASH REEL (HBO), Oscar-nominated WASTE LAND (PBS), COUNTDOWN TO ZERO, and BLINDSIGHT.
Lucy has directed 9 features as well as several notable short films, a couple of banner series, and of course twenty episodes of Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues. Always passionate about music, in her 20s Walker also enjoyed a successful DJ career.
She is currently working on a sci-fi documentary about interspecies communication.
Links
The film streams globally on Netflix. She directed award-winning theater before winning a Fulbright Scholarship to earn her MFA at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is British and American and is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, The British Academy of Film and Television, the Director’s Guild of America, and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Her latest feature film is Mountain Queen(2024) about pioneering Nepali mountaineer Lhakpa Sherpa returning to Mount Everest to redeem her life’s purpose and inspire her own daughters.
Her first job was directing twenty episodes of Nickelodeon's BLUE’S CLUES, for which she received two Emmy nominations. For Netflix she directed/executive produced How To Change Your Mind, executive produced Ram Dass, Going Homeand produced Why Did You Kill Me?. Her films have won over one hundred festival awards including two at Sundance, two at SXSW, and she is the only filmmaker to have won the Audience Award at Berlin twice.
She has also made short films, notably Oscar-nominated and double-Emmy-nominated The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom(2011); triple-Emmy-nominated Oscar-shortlisted The Lion’s Mouth Opens(2014) which won the Cinema Eye for Best Short Documentary; and David Hockney In The Now (2012), commissioned and exhibited by LACMA.
She is an artist in residence at the SETI Institute and also enjoyed a successful career as a DJ.
.
She was an early pioneer of VR and created several VR experiences including A History Of Cuban Dance(2015).Series and television credits include directing twenty episodes of Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Cluesfor which she was nominated for two Emmys for Outstanding Directing, and Defying Gravity, about women’s gymnastics, directed and executive produced by Walker, which was Emmy-nominated and won a PGA Award for Best Sports series.
She was born in London and graduated from Oxford University before winning a Fulbright Scholarship to attend NYU's Graduate Film Program, where she supported herself with a successful career as a DJ.
Longer Bio
Lucy Walker is an Emmy winning, two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker who has been called “the new Errol Morris” by the Hollywood Reporterand has been singled out for creating “nonfiction fare that connects with audiences” by Variety.