ABOUT

Jyllian is an Emmy-award winning multimedia storyteller for film, television, and audio.

She is known for her ability to draw comedic, heartfelt characters with unique voices. She has a keen interest in exploring the stories of young people and old people.

She was Director, Writer, & Co-Executive Producer for the new HBO MAX rom doc series, Swiping America. (See series page.)

Her third documentary, Sunset & The Mockingbird, produced by Essie Chambers and Kali Holloway, is in post production. 

She is currently developing a feature documentary about Robin Byrd with Stephanie Schwam and Alison Benson for Pretty Matches Productions.

Her feature script, Pleased To Meet Me, is being produced by Wren Arthur and Steve Buscemi’s Olive Productions.

Previously, she was Co-Executive Producer • Director•Writer on multiple episodes of the NBC Emmy award-winning series, Who Do You Think You Are, featuring Allison Janney, Nick Offerman, Billy Porter and more.

She won a Christopher Award for her work as Executive Producer • Director of the History/A&E documentary, Black Patriots: Heroes of the American Revolution, featuring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

She was Producer for ABC’s The Last Defense, a seven part docuseries executive produced by Viola Davis.

She was Director • Producer • Writer for six short films for the JigSaw, Amazon, and The New Yorker magazine series, The New Yorker Presents. 

Her second award-winning feature documentary, The New Public, aired on PBS, is widely available online, and is distributed by Kino Lorber with a curriculum created by Teachers College at Columbia University. It has been added to the collections of libraries at hundreds of educational institutions worldwide.

Her first critically-acclaimed documentary, Pull Out, produced by Wren Arthur, was an official selection of numerous national and international film festivals and is in development as a series for television.  

She served as Reporter • Co-Producer for NPR's acclaimed, This American Life program. (Episodes:“Kid Politics” & “Stuck In the Middle.”) 

She is the recipient of 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. She was a freelance Writer/Producer of countless promos and producer/director on various docuseries for Discovery Channel, TLC, MTV, AMC, IFC, and WEtv, and other networks.

Jyllian has been called a natural born collaborator, a skilled listener, an endless idea generator, a strong shoulder, joke maker and fun maker. She has a knack for building trust quickly and getting in deep.