Glassbreaker Films is an initiative launched by the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation to support women to be leaders in nonfiction filmmaking by funding and creating films that tell great stories and inspire audiences. Our films have been published on Netflix, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, The Atlantic, and Glamour ; have premiered or screened at Sundance, Telluride, and SXSW among others, and have pulled in honors such as Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Short for Heroin(e) in 2018, a Vimeo Staff Pick , and three Atlantic Selects honors.

Through a multi-level funding strategy, Glassbreaker Films has supported filmmakers at different stages in their careers. Funds allocated are for innovative nonfiction digital projects from early career filmmakers through Catalyst Grants, and production funds for documentary shorts and features are produced through our Women in Docs program.

Why “Glassbreaker?” Helen Gurley Brown was a “glassbreaker” in her own right as well as a best-selling author and editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine for decades. Her husband, David Brown, was a renowned filmmaker and producer responsible for such well known films as Driving Miss Daisy, The Verdict, and Jaws. At Glassbreaker Films we celebrate Helen’s and David’s spirit of innovation and independence, and their commitment to transformative storytelling.

Library of Films We’ve Funded

HEROIN(E) by Elaine Sheldon / In the face of the opioid epidemic in a west Virginia town, three women are giving their community a fighting chance. It is an academy award nominee for Best Documentary (Short Subject). Sheldon highlights these three women working to change the town’s narrative and break the devastating cycle of drug abuse. As America’s opioid crisis threatens to tear communities apart, the Netflix original short documentary, Heroin(e), shows how the chain of compassion holds one town together.

BEFORE PRISON by Olivia Merrion and Emily Harger / In 2013, Robyn Allen received a 20-year sentence for illegal drugs. She says she sold methamphetamine to support her family after a back injury left her without work. But the reasons Allen starting using the drug run much deeper. In spite of taking measures to reduce its long-standing record as the No. 1 incarcerator of women in the country, Oklahoma keeps locking women up at more than twice the national average. This has taken its toll on several generations of women in the state.

SURVIVOR by BridgeUP Scholars: Claire Brock Mansell, Lily Shannon-Sutter, and Isabel Torrence / Audrey was sexually assaulted her freshman year of high school, but she refuses to be a victim.

UNTIL SOMETHING IS DONE by Deborah Souza Silva / In 2009, Oscar Grant was fatally shot by a BART police officer in Oakland. His mother continues her fight to keep his legacy alive.

SINCE THE SPILL by Olivia Loomis Merrion / The 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico was an environmental accident unlike anything the U.S. had experienced before. It was the largest offshore spill in American history, killing 11 people and decimating millions of animals. BP, the company responsible for the accident, will pay the U.S. a record-setting $20.8 billion for damages caused by the spill. Seven years later, those who live near the Gulf say they’re not convinced the area will ever make a full recovery. Dr. Bonny Schumaker, pilot, still can see the devastation from her low-flying plane, which she uses to take photos for ecological surveys. William Granger, lifelong commercial fisherman, says the spill devastated his business. Fearing his family would not have money to pay for groceries, he accepted a small, quick payment from a BP settlement. But the money was not enough to keep him afloat, concerning him about how he will continue to make a living.

GRIEVING IN A FISHBOWL by Olivia Loomis Merrion / After a mass shooting, the media descends on the survivors. They’re asked time and again what they saw, what they felt and why they think it happened. After the dead are counted and the shooter’s motives are scrutinized, they are left to cope and move on. Heater Martin was a senior at Columbine High School in Colorado when two teenagers shot and killed 12 students and 1 teacher. More than a decade later, 12 people were killed and dozens more injured in a shooting at an Aurora movie theater, just miles from where Martin lived. To create a space for survivors to talk about their grief and traumatic new realities, Martin co-founded The Rebels Project, a nationwide support network that connect survivors of a mass tragedy to help them process their experiences. Martin wants the group to stop growing, but every year, more members join by tragic circumstances.

BASED ON A TRUE STORY by Deborah Souza Silva / The 2000 film “Erin Brockovich” seemed like a successful Davis versus Goliath story. A single mom of three took on PG&E for contaminating drinking water in Hinkley, California, and came out victorious, suing and winning $333 million from the giant utility company. But what ever became of the tiny town? For the roughly 600 residents who received part of that payout, the ending wasn’t all happy. Residents who lived there in the ‘90s, such as Roberta Walker, say they suffer from residual health problems. And while they can’t disclose how much money they received from the lawsuit, they say it wasn’t enough to keep them afloat for long. Now, 21 years after the lawsuit, it seems the same public health hazard continues to affect the welfare of Hinkley residents.

ENERGY CAPITAL by Emily Harger / Despite being the nation’s leader in coal production, Wyoming has experienced about 1,000 layoffs in the coal industry in 2016. President Donald Trump has promised to bring back coal, but so far, former miners like James Hart have not had any luck finding new jobs. instead, Hart is putting his hopes into renewable energy and a growing sector of jobs at wind farms.

REFUGE IN THE MOUNTAIN STATE by Emily Harger / In West Virginia, where almost 70% of the presidential vote went to Donald Trump, religious leaders of different faiths are working to find common ground and together offer a safe space for refugees. In December 2016, the West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry received federal approval to resettle 100 refugees. Then, President Trump announced his controversial travel ban, which aimed to restrict the entry of refugees and nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries.

RECOVERING FROM REHAB by Olivia Loomis Merrion / In 2010, Brad McGahey was sentenced to a year in prison for buying a stolen horse trailer. But when he went before a judge, he was told he was going to have to carry out his sentence by working instead, through a program called Christian Alcoholics & Addicts in Recovery (CAAIR). MaGahey wasn’t addicted to anything at the time of his sentencing. Hundreds of men are sent to CAAIR in lieu of a prison sentence each year. The program promises recovery from addiction for participants, but most of their time is spent working at a chicken processing plant, where they pull guts and feathers from slaughtered chickens and prepare them for distribution to companies such as Walmart, KFC, and PetSmart.

BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH by Debora Souza Silva / President Donald Trump’s promise of a boarder wall has sparked wildly different reactions across the country. In southern Arizona, where long stretches of desert and extreme heat have killed thousands of migrants, water is the common ground between pro-immigrant activists and a rancher who backs the wall. Ahl Tamar and Katherine B. are volunteers with No More Deaths, leaving jugs of water on trails where migrants are known to travel. Both say they fear that a boarder wall would not deter people from attempting to cross, and only push them to more dangerous routes. Jim Chilton, a rancher in the area, has given water to desperate migrants, but he says he supports Trump’s boarder wall because he is frustrated that people die on his property and believes a wall will prevent future tragedies.

A DIVIDED ROAD by Debora Souza Silva / Shortly after President Donal Trump’s election, two friends, Lauren and Martina, decided to provide free legal aid to people living in the country without permission. They left their home in New York and travled across the country by van to meet people in need of help. Lauren is an immigration lawyer and Martina is an immigrant from Mexico. In just a few months, they traveled to 12 sates and estimated they advised nearly 200 on a shoestring budget.

IS EGG DONATION SAFE? by Emily Harger and Olivia Loomis Merrion / Dr. Jennifer Schneider lost her 31-year-old daughter, Jessica Wing, to colon cancer in 2003. To this day, Schneider wonders whether there was a link between her daughter being a three-time egg donor and her diagnosis. But because there are no studies of the long-term risk of egg donation, Schneider may never know if the procedure had something to do with why her daughter was diagnosed at such a young age.

IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH by Aubrey Aden-Buie / John Williams Jr.’s life changed irrevocably in 2014 when he was involved in a horrific crane accident while working at VT Halter shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. He suffered permanent, severe brain damage that left him with the mental capacity of a child. Wanda, his wife of almost 20 years, must now take care of him. Their love remains strong, but they have lost the life and relationship they once knew. The Williamses consider themselves among “the lucky ones.” Seventy-six workers died in the private shipyard building and repair industry from 2005 to 2015, and hundreds more, such as John Williams, were injured. VT Halter has been fined repeatedly by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for serious safety lapses, but Williams’ former employer continues to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts from the U.S. government.