Hot Shots 2024: Ella Jackson

After working as a development researcher on more than 20 major BBC Studios documentaries for the UK and US, Ella Jackson has jumped to AP for her latest project.

On the yet-to-be-disclosed feature doc for a streamer, she’s handled 30-plus contributor relationships, unlocked hidden archive and secured complex institutional access.

“Ella’s the lynchpin of the team,” says producer/director Emily Turner. “I find myself forgetting this is one of her first productions, such is her instinctive knack for making films.”

Channel 5 content chief Ben Frow, meanwhile, was so impressed by Jackson’s pitch for an archive-led social history box set that he awarded her £2,000 in secondary funding on the spot.

On BBC2 shows such as Uncanny and Disco Inferno, and Nat Geo’s Tucci: The Heart Of Italy, Jackson impressed BBC Studios documentary unit creative director Kirsty Cunningham with her “dogged determination, deep-dive research, empathy, understanding of broadcaster needs and impressive editorial vision and sensibility”.

Turner, meanwhile, says Jackson “often pushes me to learn more myself, making the work we do together stronger”.

She concludes: “Ella has a bright future in whatever she does, but documentaries will be the richer for her part in them.”