GILLY BARNES is a commercial and narrative film director. 

Her first short film, Hey Spirit -an expressionistic documentary about cheerleading- screened at The Telluride Film Festival and was acquired by IFC. She’s been mining the territory of female cliches ever since, for a more complete look at how women show up in the world. 

Gilly is a fellow of The Directing Workshop for Women at AFI, and a recipient of Refinery29’s Shatterbox grant for her short Are You Still Singing?, which aired on HBOMax, and screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, Palm Springs, Mill Valley and the BFI London Film Festival. 

Gilly is currently developing her first television series, The Search for Magic, as part of the inaugural cohort for Proof of Concept; a directing incubator created by Cate Blanchett’s Dirty Films and underwritten by Netflix. 

CONTACT: GILLIANLEIGHBARNES@GMAIL.COM