Jyllian Gunther


Jyllian Gunther is an American director, writer, and film and television producer. She is known for her role as co-executive producer on the BBC genealogy documentary series, Who Do You Think You Are? and director of the History Channel/A&E-produced documentary ''Black Patriots: Heroes of the American Revolution.''

Career overview

Gunther has directed and produced a range of documentary projects, including serving as director and co-executive producer for the HBO series ' and an untitled pilot for Condé Nast and Amazon. She was also a co-executive producer, director, and writer for multiple episodes of the NBC series Who Do You Think You Are, featuring celebrities such as Allison Janney, Nick Offerman, and Billy Porter. Her work on the History/A&E documentary ', featuring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, earned a Christopher Award.
As a producer, she contributed to ABC’s seven-part docuseries The Last Defense, executive-produced by Viola Davis. She also directed, produced, and wrote six short films for T, a series by JigSaw, Amazon, and The New Yorker magazine. Her first documentary, ', produced by Wren Arthur, received a national Emmy Award, and her second feature documentary, ', aired on PBS and is distributed by Kino Lorber, accompanied by an educational curriculum developed by Teachers College at Columbia University.

News reporting

Gunther served as a reporter and co-producer for . She received a national Emmy Award for writing and directing a series of public service announcements for PBS. She began her television career as a staff writer for Nickelodeon and later worked as a freelance writer and producer for promotional content. She also served as a producer and director on various docuseries for networks including Discovery Channel, TLC, MTV, AMC, IFC, and We TV.

Filmography