Cynthia Wade is an Oscar ® -winning, Emmy-winning documentary director who works in commercial and fiction.
Her 2023 four-part Netflix docuseries “MerPeople,” about the dangerous, beautiful world of underwater performers, is rated 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Her directing credits include the Emmy-winning documentary “The Flagmakers” (Disney+, Critics Choice Nominee, Oscar shortlist), Emmy-nominated “Grit” (PBS, 12 film awards), “Mondays at Racine” (HBO, Oscar nominee), “Freeheld” (HBO, Oscar winner, Sundance winner), “Born Sweet” (Sundance winner, Oscar shortlist), “Shelter Dogs” (HBO), “Grist for the Mill” (Cinemax), Primetime Emmy-winning “Growing Hope Against Hunger” (PBS), “Generation Startup” (Netflix), “Living the Legacy” (Sundance Channel). She directed three episodes of Apple TV+’s Critics Choice nominated docuseries “Gutsy,” featuring Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton.
Her fiction short “Sproutland ” won 15 awards.
She has directed commercial campaigns for Kelloggs, Unilever, Abbott, Kimberly Clark, Sanofi, Pfizer, Hershey, Incyte, Salix and Bristol Myers Squibb, including the viral branded films SELFIE (Clio winner, Dove Real Beauty) and #ENDMOMMYWARS (Similac).
She is a member of DGA, AMPAS, NATAS, and is represented by William Morris Endeavor (WME). She has won over 50 film festival awards worldwide.
