Lilly Hartley

Hartley was raised in East Hampton, New York and New York City.^[1] Her father is a playwright and graduate of the Yale School of Drama and her mother is a scientist.^[2] Her godfather, Ken Howard, was an actor and was president of the Screen Actors Guild.^[2] Her grandfather, Benjamin Epstein, worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the Civil Rights Movement in his role as national director of the Anti-Defamation League.^[2] She majored in history and English in college and graduated summa cum laude.^[2] She studied acting at William Esper Studio, completing the two-year program.^[2]

Hartley founded Candescent Films in 2010.^[3][4] The film production company supports documentary films exploring social issues.^[5] Prior to founding the company, Hartley worked as an actress^[3] and production executive.^[5] She is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and Producers Guild of America.^[3]

The first film supported by Candescent was The Queen of Versailles, which was the opening night film at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival,^[3] and was nominated for a DGA Award,^[6] IDA Award^[7] and Critics' Choice Award.^[8] Hartley served as an executive producer.^[9] As a producer on Sons of the Clouds, a documentary exploring human rights issues in Western Sahara and starring Javier Bardem, Hartley won the 2013 Goya Award for Best Documentary Film.^[10] In 2014, Hartley partnered with the Tribeca Film Institute to develop a Candescent Award for films that premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. The inaugural recipient of this award was Nas: Time Is Illmatic (2014).^[11]

Some of Hartley's other work includes executive producing Who Is Dayani Cristal? starring Gael García Bernal,^[12] executive producing Private Violence, which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival,^[13] and producing Likeness, a short film starring Elle Fanning and directed by Rodrigo Prieto.^[4][11] Hartley executive produced The Departure, directed by Lana Wilson.^[14][15] Hartley executive produced the big game hunting documentary Trophy, which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, where it was acquired by CNN Films and The Orchard.^[16] Hartley also executive produced Generation Wealth.^[17][18]