Simon Chinn

Co-Founder
Lightbox Entertainment

Simon Chinn is a double Academy Award winning producer who is responsible for some of the most successful documentaries of recent years, known for their high production values, powerful narratives and innovative blending of documentary and fiction techniques.

Simon launched Lightbox in 2014 in partnership with his cousin, Emmy-winning producer Jonathan Chinn. With offices in London and LA, the company is focused on producing high-end content across multiple platforms.

Since then, Simon has executive produced Lightbox shows including Whitney: the only authorized documentary about Whitney Houston, directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald; LA92, the Emmy-winning feature documentary for National Geographic to mark the 25th anniversary of the LA riots, directed by Academy Award winners Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin; Captive: a major eight-part documentary series telling the stories of some of the most high stakes hostage negotiations from around the world for Netflix; My Scientology Movie, fronted by Louis Theroux, which was the highest grossing British theatrical documentary of 2016; Absolutely Fashion: Inside British Vogue, an observational documentary mini-series for BBC2 and Netflix US; The Traffikers, an eight-hour investigative series for US network Fusion; the critically acclaimed War Child for Channel 4, following the journey of three refugee children across Europe; and Bare Knuckle Fight Club, a documentary series for Channel 4 and FX Studios.

Current Lightbox projects includeDiagnosis - an eight-part formatted series for Netflix inspired by The New York Times Magazine's long-running and hugely popular column;Weinstein a major feature documentary telling the definitive story of the Hollywood mogul’s career, fall from grace and Hollywood’s culture of abuse, for the BBC and theatrical release; and TINA, the first feature documentary to be made about the singer with her support and involvement. He is also executive producing further projects for networks and digital platforms including Netflix, National Geographic, Discovery Channels, and the BBC.

Simon conceived and produced Man on Wire which won numerous international awards including the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, the Producers Guild of America (PGA) Award, the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film and the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Searching for Sugar Man opened the Sundance Film Festival in 2012 and went on to gross over $10 million at the international box office, making it one of the most commercially successful documentaries of recent years. Among more than 30 international awards, it won the PGA, DGA and WGA awards, the BAFTA and the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Project Nim opened the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically around the world to great acclaim, won the DGA Award, was nominated for a BAFTA and shortlisted for an Academy Award. The Imposter, which Simon executive produced, launched at Sundance in 2012. It became the eighth highest grossing (non-concert) documentary of all time in the UK and went on win the BAFTA for best debut for its director Bart Layton.