Gabriela Cowperthwaite has been directing both documentaries and narrative films for over 20 years, rising to prominence with the 2013 release of Blackfish, which examined the plight of orcas and their trainers at SeaWorld. Blackfish quickly became one of the highest grossing documentaries of all time. In addition to being shortlisted for an Academy Award, Blackfish was nominated for a BAFTA, a Broadcast Critics’ Awards, an International Documentary Association Award, and won the Satellite Award for Best Feature.   

Most recently, Gabriela completed ISS, a space station thriller starring Chris Messina and Academy Award winner Arianna DeBose. Her critically acclaimed film Our Friend, starring Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson, and Jason Segel was released in 2020. Based on a true life story, Our Friend told the story of a couple struggling through a diagnosis alongside their best friend. Megan Leavey, which marked Gabriela’s narrative directorial debut in 2015 is based on the true life story of a Marine corporal (Kate Mara), whose unique bond with her military combat dog saved many lives during their deployment in Iraq.  

Last year Gabriela helmed Children of the Underground, a FX/Hulu series highlighting Faye Yager, a woman who started a dark underground network that has been hiding children from their abusers for decades. The series was nominated in 2023 for an Independent Spirit Award for best documentary series. Gabriela's latest documentary THE GRAB, a geo-political thriller, follows a shadowy world of powerful entities who are grabbing up the world's food and water while we all look the other way. THE GRAB opened TIFF this year (2022) and is being hailed as the "holy sh*t documentary of the year". It is due for release June 14th, 2024.