Tanya Stephan
agent: Camilla Chiverton - camilla@sternwild.com
Tanya Stephan is a BAFTA and multi-award-winning director of premium documentaries. She is sought after for her skill in getting to the heart of human stories, and crafting cinematic, compelling narratives. She specialises in directing impactful, high rating films often navigating sensitive and complex access.
Her most recent work includes The Girl Who Caught a Killer, a premium retrospective true crime series, from a survivor perspective, for Sky Documentaries. This gripping series spans thirty years of British history, meticulously crafted with high-end drama recon, revealing interviews, exclusive archive, and working with sensitive mental health issues.
In 2022, she won the BAFTA Specialist Factual Award, the Grierson History Documentary Award and the RTS Journalism International Documentary Award for her feature-length film The Missing Children about the transatlantic Catholic mother-and-baby homes scandal (ITVX). She was also long listed for the BAFTA Craft Award for Best Director (Factual) and nominated for the Prix Italia for Best Documentary. The Missing Children was described by the Sunday Times as “a jaw-dropping and revelatory film” and by the Grierson jury as “an inspiration to all documentary film makers”.
She also directed a 3 x 45 premium series version of The Missing Children for Topic Studios streaming in the US and Europe on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.
Ukraine’s War Diaries, her ground-breaking documentary for BBC ONE was broadcast to mark the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was nominated for a Rose D’Or in 2023 and described by The Times as “unusual and brilliant”. The film was told through the voices and self-shot stories of five young Ukrainians on the frontline across one year, creating an immersive first-hand account of ordinary lives overturned by war.
In her previous work, she’s filmed and directed many high profile, critically acclaimed series and singles including Sheridan Smith: Becoming Mum (ITV) for which she gained the trust of actress and celebrity Sheridan Smith to tell her story of the mental health issues that nearly cost her life. And she uncovered the unprecedented story of an anonymous egg donor who decides to track down her biological children in Donor Mum, (BBC ONE).
She has a degree in History from Cambridge and began her career as a radio journalist freelancing for the BBC World Service and BBC Radio Scotland. She later trained in Documentary Directing at the National Film and TV school with a scholarship from the British Federation of Women Graduates. She is a dual UK/US citizen.
Please see Tanya’s own website