01 — Documentary

Story-led films

Jake Lea-Wilson · Producer Director

Ten years of broadcast documentary for the BBC, ITV, Netflix and Sky — biopics of Netanyahu and Putin, true crime in London and the US, films from inside prisons, newsrooms and refugee camps.

Sensitive contributors. Difficult access. Complicated stories told straight. Shot in Greenland, Nigeria, Iraq and Mauritius, mostly carrying our own kit.

10+Years directing
8Broadcasters
4Continents shot
2Prime-time biopics
Selected films

Documentaries worth a look.

05 of 15
01

10 Years of Darkness:
ISIS & The Yazidis

Sky News 2024 Producer Director
Watch on YouTube

An hour with award-winning correspondent Alex Crawford on a decade of reporting from the Middle East: the 2014 Sinjar slaughter, the women and children taken as slaves, the survivors rebuilding, and the families still looking for the missing.

I have reported on the horrors faced by the Yazidis for over a decade, telling the harrowing stories of the women and children taken as slaves, raped by ISIS. Alex Crawford, Sky News
02

Election: Behind the Scenes at Sky News

Sky Documentaries 2024 Director
Watch on YouTube

Four weeks inside a newsroom covering the most consequential UK General Election in a generation. Battle buses, debate prep and Election Night Live with Kay Burley and Beth Rigby — and a team rebuilding its plan on the fly after a shock summer election was called.

03

Netanyahu

Sky News 2024 Producer Director
Watch on YouTube

A year on from the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, a forensic look at the long and contested career of Israel's prime minister — the survival instinct, the coalitions, and the country he has reshaped around himself.

04

The Playboy Bunny Murder

ITV 2023 Shooting Producer Director
Watch on ITVX

Marcel Theroux investigates a set of disturbing murders of young women, unsolved since the 1970s, and uncovers the dark and violent side hidden beneath the wealth and glamour of London's most exclusive nightlife.

05

Putin's Obsession:
The Fight for Ukraine

Sky Documentaries 2022 Producer Director
Watch on Sky

A profile of Putin and his complicated relationship with Ukraine. Why does a neighbouring nation threaten his power, and his idea of himself?

Credits

Ten years on the road.

2011 — present

Producer Director

2019 — present · Sky, Netflix, ITV

  • Hunting for ISISSky News
  • 10 Years of Darkness: ISIS & The YazidisSky News
  • Election: Behind the Scenes at Sky NewsSky Documentaries
  • NetanyahuSky News
  • The Playboy Bunny MurderITV
  • Inside the World's Toughest PrisonsNetflix
  • Chaos in KabulSky Documentaries
  • Putin's ObsessionSky Documentaries

Producer & Edit Producer

2011 — 2019 · BBC, Channel 4, MTV, A&E

  • Reggie Yates Meets WorldMTV
  • The AccusedA&E
  • The InsiderBBC Three
  • Spying on My FamilyChannel 4
  • Hugh's Fish FightChannel 4
  • Tom Felton Meets the SuperfansBBC Three
  • Urbex: Enter at Your Own RiskRed Bull TV
Approach

Our ideas on making documentaries

Research → delivery
Access

Doors that stay shut for other people

Building and holding access is the job. Newsrooms mid-election, prison systems, families who have never spoken on camera — the relationship comes first and the film follows.

Contributors

Sensitive stories, handled properly

Survivors of ISIS, the bereaved, people at real risk. Extensive experience of duty of care and informed consent, without losing the honesty that makes a film land.

Location

Hostile and unpredictable

Shoots run in Greenland, Nigeria, Iraq, Mauritius, Canada, Australia, Europe and the US. Current HEFAT, and a habit of bringing the film home on schedule.

Camera

Self-shooting to broadcast spec

FX9, FX6, FX3 and Canon R5. Master interviews, contributor-led actuality and presenter pieces — small crew when the story needs one, solo when it doesn't.

Edit

Structure that holds an hour

Ten-plus hours delivered as producer and edit producer. Shaping narrative in the edit is where the film is really made, and it's where I like to be.

Politics

Complex subjects, straight down the line

Films about Putin, Netanyahu, ISIS and a general election — made to compliance, made fast, and made to stand up when people come looking for holes.

Kit & qualifications

Sony FX9 FX6 FX3 Canon R5 Adobe Creative Suite Final Cut Pro Avid Pro Tools HEFAT — current CAA drone · DJI Mavic 3 PADI diver

Recognition

  • Churchill Fellowship2016
  • Ones to Watch2016
  • Broadcast Hotshot2014
  • Channel 4 Production Trainee Scheme2011