Filmmaker Lindsey stands centre frame and looks at the camera with a slight smile on her face. She has a nose piercing and long dark brown hair that falls across her blue velvet dress. In the background are tall, noble trees, shrouded by leaves.

Lindsey Dryden (she/her) is an Emmy® award-winning, Sundance-supported, and Oscar-shortlisted producer, director and executive producer, and co-founder of FWD-Doc: Filmmakers with Disabilities. 

Reaching millions of viewers with short and feature-length films on platforms including Netflix, BBC, Channel 4, PBS, CondeNast’s ‘them’, New Yorker and Criterion Channel, and festivals including Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, HotDocs, CPH:Dox and Frameline, her work explores radical and rebellious bodies, LGBTQ+ rights and D/deaf and disabled perspectives, and involves documentary, animation and live action. 

Lindsey is a voting member of AMPAS and BAFTA, the 2025 SXSW Janet Pierson Champion Award Winner, a 2024 Concordia Fellow and a 2022 Sundance Institute Documentary Producers Lab Fellow.

She produced 2x Webby- and Emmy-winning Trans In America (2019, them/SXSW), Academy Award shortlisted and Sundance Special Jury Award-winning feature doc Unrest (2017, PBS/Netflix), and SXSW-debuting feature docs The Tallest Dwarf (2025) and She Looks Like Me (2024). 

Her directing credits include The Callers (2024, Frameline/New Yorker/Criterion Channel); Jackie Kay: One Person, Two Names (2017, Tate Queer British Art), feature documentary Lost and Sound (2012, SXSW); and Close Your Eyes and Look At Me (2009, True/False). 

Her most recent consulting credits include Consultant on Deaf President Now! (Concordia Studio/Apple TV+) directed by Nyle DiMarco and David Guggenheim, and Consulting Producer on Heart of Invictus (Violet Films/Netflix) directed by Orlando Von Einsiedel and produced by Jo Natasegara.

SELECTED PRESS

A portrait of a person with long dark hair, wearing a blue garment, standing in front of a tree. The image includes text: "SXSW Film & TV Awards, Lindsey Dryden, Janet Pierson Champion Award Winner." The person's social media handle is also displayed.

Indiewire SXSW 2025 Awards: Lindsey Dryden receives Janet Pierson Champion Award
 
To honor Janet Pierson, Director Emeritus of the SXSW Film & TV Festival after 15 years of leadership, a prize was created in 2023 called the Janet Pierson Champion Award. As part of IndieWire’s dedication to elevating Film & TV creators, IndieWire is proud to present the Janet Pierson Champion Award to Lindsey Dryden. 

 “This year’s winner exemplifies the spirit of a true film champion through her impressive body of work spanning award-winning productions like Unrest and Trans In America, while simultaneously advocating for greater inclusion through her leadership with FWD-Doc and commitment to disability representation. Her multifaceted career as a director, producer, and advocate demonstrates exceptional creativity and resilience, making her a powerful voice for marginalized communities and an influential catalyst for change within the broader independent film ecosystem worldwide.”