Dawn Porter (L’93) is an American documentary filmmaker and the founder of the production company Trilogy. Her award-winning films include: Gideon’s Army (2013), about three Black public defenders working in the southern United States; Spies of Mississippi (2014), about the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission’s (MSSC) efforts to preserve segregation during the 50s and 60s; Trapped, about the impact of anti-abortion laws on abortion providers in the South; and Bobby Kennedy for President, which debuted on Netflix. 

As a three-time Sundance Film Festival Director, Porter’s work has been featured on HBO, Netflix, Hulu, Showtime, CNN, PBS, MSNBC, MTV Films, and other platforms. Her latest title, the Sony Music Entertainment documentary Luther: Never Too Much, is a celebration of the life and work of R&B singer Luther Vandross, one of the greatest musical vocalists and performers of all time.With Jamie Foxx and Colin Firth serving as producers, the film is set to premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. 

The Lady Bird Diaries, an all-archival documentary about Lady Bird Johnson, debuted at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival where it won the Lone Star Prize and premiered on Hulu to critical acclaim. Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court is a four-part docuseries that explores the history of the Supreme Court, the justices, decisions, and confirmation battles that have shaped the United States. The series premiered on Paramount/Showtime and was later nominated for a Critics Choice Documentary Award and Film Independent Spirit Award for Best New Non-Scripted Series or Docu-Series.  

Other current projects include directing the Amazon MGM documentary Cirque Du Soleil: Without a Net, which was a centerpiece at the 2022 DOC NYC Festival and directing/executive producing a six-part series on the continuation of the historic civil rights documentary series Eyes on the Prize for HBO. Additional credits include The Me You Can’t See (Apple TV+), Rise Again: Tulsa and the Red Summer (National Geographic), The Way I See It (Focus Features), John Lewis: Good Trouble (CNN, Magnolia Pictures), 37 Words (ESPN), Un(re)solved (Frontline PBS), and Gideon’s Army (HBO). 

Porter discovered her passion for filmmaking following her time as an attorney.She is a graduate of Swarthmore College, and has a law degree from Georgetown University Law School. When she isn’t working behind the camera, Porter frequently lectures at universities across the nation, a passion she honed during her time as professor and head of the Documentary Program at the prestigious UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She holds honorary degrees from Swarthmore College and Simmons University. Porter currently resides in New York City with her family.