Jannat Gargi (Courtesy of James Longley)
Jannat Gargi has been named senior vice president and head of documentaries at Westbrook, where she will be tasked with making non-fiction features and premium series.
She joins the media company from Vice Studios, where she most recently held the role of vice president of documentaries. At Vice, Gargi developed documentaries such as “Flee,” which won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and will be released by Neon this fall, as well as a limited series for ESPN’s “30 For 30” about the American Gladiators.
Westbrook is the media company founded by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. Its films and series include “Cobra Kai,” “Red Table Talk” and “King Richard.” The company was in the headlines over the weekend after news broke that it was in talks to sell itself to a media venture backed by private equity firm Blackstone and led by Disney vets Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer.
Gargi will report to Westbrook Studios Co-Presidents Terence Carter, who serves as head of television, and Jon Mone, its head of features. She starts her new position at the end of September.
“We could not be more excited to have Jannat join the Westbrook team,” said Mone and Carter. “Her clear creative vision, passion for impactful storytelling, and impeccable track record building a slate of premium documentary features and series is unparalleled. She is truly a star and we look forward to growing our robust slate of docs with her as we continue to empower creators to share their voices in unique and compelling ways.”
Prior to VICE, Gargi served as head of documentary films for Vulcan Productions where she developed and executive produced a wide range of films including “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” which was directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and premiered last summer to critical acclaim. She also worked the Academy Award-nominated documentary short, “Hunger Ward,” Sundance Audience Award winner, “The Reason I Jump,” and Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning “Body Team 12.”
“I am thrilled to join the talented and inventive team at Westbrook,” said Gargi. “In addition to their impressive film and television ventures, they are one of the most dynamic and forward leaning entertainment companies with an unmatched ability to nurture and develop inspirational, highly-anticipated content from its inception to its debut onscreen.
I look forward to leading the growth of building their slate of feature documentaries and premium TV docuseries at a time when documentaries are more vital than ever in connecting audiences with inspiring, relevant and authentic stories.”
Current Westbrook Studios documentary projects include the recently launched “Amend: The Fight for America,” a six-part, multimedia docuseries that explores the Fourteenth Amendment, and the upcoming adventure series “Welcome to Earth” for National Geographic.
Variety's Brent Lang contributed to this post. https://variety.com/2021/film/news/westbrook-jannat-gargi-head-of-documentaries-1235063466/#recipient_hashed=27d3e1decbdd57f8473998652dd3259302a49d011cd4c3c98101f80952412574
