“Just as in literature, as the taste has moved from fiction to nonfiction. In a way you’re on a serendipitous journey, a journey which is much more akin to the life experience. When you see somebody on the screen in a documentary, you’re really engaged with a person going through real life experiences. So for that period of time, as you watch the film, you are, in effect, in the shoes of another individual. What a privilege to have that experience.”
Tracy Aftergood is an award winning producer whose driving force is to produce entertaining and impactful documentaries that spark curiosity and empathy. She is drawn to female driven narratives that spotlight complex women who are disrupting culture in different ways. Prior to her most recent film, Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge for Hulu, Aftergood produced the sports documentary, Helen | Believe, which followed gold medalist and mental health advocate Helen Maroulis. The film premiered at The Santa Barbara International Film Festival and had a nationwide theatrical release in 2023. In 2021 Aftergood produced the YouTube Originals documentary This is Paris, which featured the global icon and now activist Paris Hilton. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and has been watched by 80 million people to date. In 2018, Aftergood collaborated with writer/director Amy Berg as a producer on the HBO Emmy nominated series, The Case Against Adnan Syed. Aftergood's first documentary, which also marked her pivot into non-fiction, was The First Monday in May. Directed by Andrew Rossi, the film chronicled the production of the famed Met Gala and its corresponding fashion exhibition, China: Through the Looking Glass. It went on to open the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016 and was theatrically released by Magnolia. Before becoming an independent producer, Aftergood held senior executive roles at production companies such as MakeMake Entertainment, MediaWeaver Entertainment, Canvas Media and The Gotham Group. Aftergood received her BA from Emory University and MFA from The Peter Stark Producing Program at USC.