Joanna Rabiger is a leading specialist (carving out her niche since 2004) in writing funding proposals for primarily independent documentary films, including advising on story presentation, assisting with fellowship and pitch/market applications, and writing copy for Look Books/Pitches/Bibles. She works closely with directors, producers and production companies. Directors/producers with whom she works or has worked include: Dan Habib (My Disability Road Map); Emma Moley (Film 45); David Barker (various); Kelly Anderson (Industry City); Petra Costa (forthcoming films); PJ Raval (CALL ME GANDA and forthcoming films); Kristina Goolsby (forthcoming films); Lisa Dapolito (forthcoming); Katy Scoggin (FLOOD); Conor Fetting-Smith (forthcoming feature documentary); Charlie Hoxie (forthcoming feature documentary); Khaula Malik (UNTITLED PAKISTAN DOCUMENTARY); Amy & Ben Digiacomo (BAD LIKE BROOKLYN DANCEHALL); Hazel Gurland-Pooler (STORMING CAESARS PALACE); Marlene McCurtis (WEDNESDAYS IN MISSISSIPPI); Bara Jichova Tyson (LOVE & CAPITALISM); Leandro Fabrizi Rios, Neyda Martinez and Carol Colmenares (BARTOLO); Rita Baghdadi (SIRENS); Yi Chen (FIRST VOTE); Chelsea Hernandez (BUILDING THE AMERICAN DREAM); Iliana Sosa WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND; Treva Wurmfeld (CONSCIENCE POINT); Sam Feder & Amy Scholder (DISCLOSURE); Sarah Colt & Josh Gleason (THE DISRUPTED); Vanessa Carr & Josh Gleason (NOMADS); Yael Bridge (SOCIALISM: AN AMERICAN STORY); Vivian Vázquez Irizarry & Gretchen Hildebran (DECADE OF FIRE); Kyle Henry (various); Kim Hopkins & Margareta Svabo of Labor of Love Films (VOICES OF THE SEA, A BUNCH OF AMATEURS); Christina DiPasquale (Balestra Media); Lagueria Davis (BLACK BARBIE); Jason Osder (AMERICA SELLS ITSELF); Tim Tsai (SEADRIFT); Justin Schein (LEFT ON PURPOSE); David Redmon & Ashley Sabin (GIRL MODEL & many others); Lysa Heslov (SERVED LIKE A GIRL); Jules Rosskam (DESIRE LINES); Hemal Trivedi (AMONG THE BELIEVERS), Michael Collins & Marty Syjuco (GIVE UP TOMORROW), Mat Hames (WHAT WAS OURS), Matt Tyrnauer (CITIZEN JANE: BATTLE FOR THE CITY), Laura Paglin (UNSEEN), and Erika Cohn (BELLY OF THE BEAST & THE JUDGE).

Joanna has twice served as a guest speaker at the 2021/2022 UnionDocs Summer Documentary Development Lab led by producer Su Kim, with a cohort of international documentary filmmakers.

She was a guest speaker at East Tennessee State University/Create Appalachia in April 2023.

Her background is in book editing (Oxford University Press) and independent documentary film editing/ associate producing. She was a reader/editor for David Redmon’s book VIDEO ETHNOGRAPHY: THEORY, METHODS, AND ETHICS (Routledge, 2019).

Joanna Rabiger lives in Austin, Texas and originally hails from London, UK. She has lived in France and has worked on several French language films.