Judy Chaikin

Judy Chaikin is a graduate of AFI's Directing Workshop for Women and is best known for writing, producing and directing the Emmy nominated PBS documentary, LEGACY OF THE HOLLYWOOD BLACKLIST. She received her second Emmy nomination for the documentary, BUILDING ON A DREAM. Her recent film THE GIRLS IN THE BAND, which explores the little-known history of women jazz musicians won five Best Documentary Awards and in 2022 was named one of the “100 Best Music Documentaries Ever,” by British Music site NME.

Judy is a sought-after ghostwriter and has completed four personal memoirs, two award winning screenplays and numerous short stories. Her most recent, THE PERFECT CHICKEN RING, is a story of about her childhood in the East Los Angeles barrio of Boyle Heights and was published in the 2021 Chautauqua Journal. Her short screenplay THE AUDITION won the 2022 Idyllwild Film Festival Award and in 2023 her Pilot/Screenplay RHYTHM GIRLS (based on the International Sweethearts of Rhythm) won the Grand Prize at the Golden State Screenplay Competition

Judy was a Supervising Producer/Segment Director on the ABC series, FBI: THE UNTOLD STORIES, a Co-Producer of the CBS Movie Of The Week, STOLEN INNOCENCE, the Writer/Director of the bi-lingual PBS documentary, LOS PASTORES and in 1996 she won the Blue Ribbon at the American Educational Film and TV Festival for the docu-drama, SOJOURNER TRUTH:AIN'T I A WOMAN, starring Roscoe Lee Brown and Julie Harris. Among her other television directing credits are the pilot for Nickelodeon's comedy series ON THE TELEVISION, Fox's AMERICAN FAMILIES, episodes of AMERICA'S MOST WANTED and the NBC Specials, TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE and THE HORATIO ALGER AWARDS.

Judy began her directing career in the theater, directing Jane Fonda in the political drama WOMAN SPEAK. Her other stage directing work includes, HOLLYWOOD REMEMBERS THE BLACKLIST, starring Billy Crystal, Alfre Woodard, David Hyde Pearce and John Lithgow .

In May of 2023, Judy has been invited to France on a tour of French film and jazz festivals with a newly translated version of The Girls In The Band.