Email This PageDawn Porter ’88
Dawn Porter’s [’88], first documentary, Gideon’s Army—a film about new public defenders working in the Deep South under the auspices of the Southern Public Defender Training Center and founder Jonathan Rapping—has been selected for the Tribeca All Access producing program. Only five documentary projects were chosen for the yearlong Tribeca Film Institute program, which includes an initial grant and mentorship by a member of the Producers Guild of America. To date, Porter, a Georgetown University-educated attorney turned filmmaker, has financed the film with a six-figure Ford Foundation grant. Gideon’s Army has also been selected for two other competitions—Hot Docs at the Toronto doc Festival and The Good Pitch, part of the Sundance Doc Institute. Owner of Trilogy Films, Porter is also producing a film about the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission and efforts to stop the civil rights movement for the Smithsonian Channel and recently directed and produced a biography of Chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli for the Cooking Channel. She became interested in documentary filmmaking at A&E Television, where she says: “I worked on other people’s films until I received the Ford grant, allowing me to work on my own project. It’s a dream come true!”
