Gretchen Hildebran Pro

Gretchen Hildebran is a filmmaker with a creative passion for social justice. Her documentaries include the internationally screened CARVE (2003), WORTH SAVING (2004), which was presented in HBO’s Frame by Frame documentary showcase and received Best of the Fest at the 2006 International Conference for Reducing Harm. OUT IN THE HEARTLAND (2005) tells the stories of gay parents in Kentucky facing a constitutional amendment banning marriage. Since graduating from Stanford University’s documentary program in 2006, Gretchen has worked in Los Angeles and New York as a cinematographer and editor for TV and independent documentary productions. Most recently she has edited for PBS Newshour, and for House Smarts, a nationally-syndicated home improvement show. Gretchen edited the theatrical trailer for the award-winning documentary TIBET IN SONG (2010). She also shot Ramona Diaz’s ITVS-funded THE LEARNING (2010) in the Philippines and Baltimore, and contributed camerawork to Joan Braderman’s THE HERETICS (2009) and Socheata Poeuv’s NEW YEARS BABY (2008). As a producer, Gretchen has specialized in public health videos addressing the harms related to drug use. This body of work includes a video made for Project Lazarus, to educate prescription drug users about the risks of overdose, as well as THE RISKS OF THE JOB and A FUNDAMENTAL SERVICE, two videos produced for the California Department of Public Health, to inform law enforcement and pharmacists about the importance of clean syringe access. Gretchen’s most recent harm reduction series, HOPE AND HEALTH, was made for the New Mexico Department of Health and documents the experiences of incarcerated people in New Mexico facing the twin challenges of opiate addiction and hepatitis C. A recent transplant to Brooklyn from the Bay Area, Gretchen is currently directing and co-producing DECADE OF FIRE, which examines the legacy of the fires that destroyed the Bronx throughout the 1970s.