Jess Search was a British documentary film producer who co-founded Doc Society, a non-profit organisation for the production of independent documentary films, and

Shooting People Shooting People is an international social network for independent filmmakers that was founded in 1998 by Cath Le Couteur and Jess Search, in which members share resources and knowledge to get their films made and seen. Dedicated to the support ...

, an international social network for independent filmmakers.

Early life

Search was born in

Waterlooville Waterlooville is a town in the Borough of Havant in Hampshire, England, approximately north northeast of Portsmouth. It is the largest town in the borough. The town had a population of 64,350 in the 2011 Census. It is surrounded by Purbrook, ...

, Hampshire and was raised in

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

, Kent to Henrietta (née Loufte) and Phil Search. Her father died in a car accident when she was 18. She was educated at

Tonbridge Grammar School Tonbridge Grammar School is a state school, state Grammar school, grammar school in Tonbridge, Kent, United Kingdom. The school was established in 1905 at the Technical Institute in Avebury Avenue Tonbridge, having only 19 enrolled students. Th ...

and

Sevenoaks School Sevenoaks School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school. It is co-educational, a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school, located in Sevenoaks, Kent, England. Established in 1432, it ...

before studying

philosophy, politics and economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...

at New College, Oxford. After university she had a

gap year A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is a period of time when students take a break from their studies, usually after completing high school or before beginning graduate school. During this time, students engage in a variety of educatio ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Career

Search began her career in 1992 working as an assistant for her uncle, Tony Laryea, at his company Catalyst Television. In 1998, she co-founded

, an international social network for independent filmmakers, with Cath Le Couteur. She then joined

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in 1999 as a commissioning editor in the Independent Film and Video Department. She stayed in this role until 2004 when the department was shut down. In 2005, she co-founded Britdoc (renamed Doc Society in 2017) with Maxyne Franklin, Katie Bradford, and Beadie Finzi. She announced in an open letter in July 2023 that she would be stepping back from Doc Society after having received a cancer diagnosis. Additionally, she acted as a trustee of

MSI Reproductive Choices MSI Reproductive Choices, named Marie Stopes International until November 2020, is an international non-governmental organisation providing contraception and safe abortion services in 37 countries around the world. MSI Reproductive Choices as a ...

and served on the boards of the

Institute for Public Policy Research The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is a Progressivism, progressive think tank based in London. It was founded in 1988 by Clive Hollick, Baron Hollick, Lord Hollick and John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, Lord Eatwell, and is an independen ...

and

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

Personal life

Search described herself as

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

and

gender nonconforming Gender nonconformity or gender variance is gender expression by an individual whose behavior, mannerisms, and/or appearance does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A person can be gender-nonconforming regardless of their gender identity ...

. She used the pronouns "she" and "her". In 2018, Search married fellow film producer Beadie Finzi in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

. They raised two children together, Ella and Ben. In her spare time she enjoyed walking her lurchers, reading poetry, and gaming. Search was diagnosed with brain cancer in June 2023. She died on 31 July 2023 at the age of 54.

References

External links

* British documentary film producers British women film producers {{Improve categories, date=March 2025