Julia Parnell
Julia Parnell’s career began in 1999, and over the past two decades, she has directed and produced hundreds of hours of content, spanning feature documentaries, primetime series, long-form television, and podcasts.
As founder of Notable Pictures (2010–), Julia produced 38 broadcast series and one-offs, alongside three feature documentaries. She oversaw multi-million-dollar budgets and delivered projects for TVNZ, Discovery/Three, RNZ, Māori Television, NHK, Al Jazeera, SBS and Prime. Her feature documentary SIX60: Till the Lights Go Out became one of New Zealand’s highest-grossing documentaries.
As a director, she crafts films with emotional precision and cinematic scale, moving fluidly between intimate character access and expansive cultural narratives. She has a particular strength in long-form interviews and editorial shaping, and is deeply engaged in the craft of editing as a narrative and ethical process.
Julia holds citizenship in New Zealand and the United Kingdom and has filmed extensively both at home and overseas, with projects taking her from Iraq to Japan and beyond.
Julia is the founder and executive producer of Loading Docs, Aotearoa New Zealand’s most successful short documentary initiative. Under her leadership, Loading Docs has produced 86 films, supported over 200 filmmakers, and reached more than 20 million viewers worldwide. The project is widely regarded for balancing creative risk, audience reach, and mentorship at scale.
Julia is a board member of the Digital Media Trust (NZ On Screen and AudioCulture), a guest lecturer in documentary at Unitec, and has served as a jury member for NZ Screen Awards, FIFO Tahiti, Doc Edge Festival, WIFT New Zealand Film and Television Awards, and the Aotearoa Music Awards
Read more about Julia’s filmography here.
Water Baby
Loading Docs Collection Seven
Festivals / Awards / Clients
Work featured at: Cannes Docs, SXSW, Sydney International Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, Tampere Film Festival, Athens International Film Festival, Cork Film Festival, In-Edit Music Documentary Festival, Palm Springs Short Film Festival, Bermuda International Film Festival, Rhode Island International Film Festival, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, Doc Edge Documentary Film Festival and NZ International Film Festival.
Clients and Funding Partners: NZ On Air, The New Zealand Film Commission, Madman Entertainment, Submarine, 1091, TVNZ, TVNZ+, Three, Prime, NZ Herald, Stuff, New Yorker, NHK, Al Jazeera, Guardian Australia, Short of the Week, Link.tv, the Swedish Broadcasting Company, NITV and TVB Hong Kong.
Awards: Doc Edge Raye Freedman Legacy Award – recognising both her filmmaking practice and long-standing contribution to industry mentorship, NZ International Film Festival Best Short, Show Me Shorts Best Short, Doc Edge Best Series and Women in Film and Television Woman to Watch.
Nominations: Best Comedy Series NZ Television Awards, Best Director and Best Factual series NZ Web Fest, Best Documentary, Sex and Relationship and Māori or Pasifika NZ Podcast Awards.