Pinny Grylls


Pinny Grylls is a documentary filmmaker.
In 2002 Grylls and Rachel Millward co-founded the Birds Eye View Film Festival. BEV showcased films by emerging women filmmakers from around the world, it became the UK's first major film festival for female filmmakers. In 2003, Millward took control of Birds Eye View, and Grylls focused on her career as a documentary filmmaker.
In 2006 Grylls was one of the recipients of the 2006 Film London UK Film Council Digital Shorts Scheme grants for her 2nd short documentary completed in 2007]. This multi - award winning film was screened at the London International Film Festival 2007 and at International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam where it was nominated for prestigious Silver Cub Award. It has won Best Documentary at Aspen Shorts Fest 2008 and 3 awards at the 5th London Short Film Festival - the FourDocs Award for Best Documentary the VX Auteur Award and 'Highly Commended' for the Best Film Award. It also won the SXSouthWest Click Grand Jury Prize in 2008. It also screened in the International Competition at Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival 2008. In 2009 it won the Shooting People Werner Herzog Competition.
In 2008 she was nominated for a 2008 Channel Four 4Talent Award in the 'Short Documentary' category. In 2010 she directed a First Cut episode for Channel 4; "Who Do You Think You Were?" explored the phenomenon of past life regression. The documentary was Pick of The Day in the Observer, Daily Mail, Sunday Telegraph and Radio Times. It was given 4 stars in Time Out.
On 19 December 2010 Grylls was featured in an Observer article as one of a crop of 'innovative daring directors' making short films for the web. Observer'', 19 December 2010]
Specialising in the arts and human interest stories, Pinny has since made a variety of documentaries, namely The Hour for The National Theatre, for The Royal Opera House, and for The Guardian. She has also directed commercials for British Gas, Aldi and Dove. She is also a freelance Video Ethnographer.
In 2014 she became a children's author and wrote , illustrated by , published by Pavilion Books.

Personal life

As a child Grylls attended Westminster School and the Children's Film Unit. She studied Anthropology and Archaeology at Oxford University at Hertford College. She is the daughter of British artist Vaughan Grylls and theatre designer Gillian Daniell, and step daughter of publisher Polly Powell. She is married to actor Sam Crane and they have a young son and daughter.