Jill Bauer

Jill Bauer
Bauer at the 2017 Miami International Film Festival presentation of Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On

Jill Bauer is a Hearst and SPJ journalist, documentarian and non-fiction author. Bauer and Ronna Gradus co-directed two documentary films, Sexy Baby (2012) and Hot Girls Wanted (2015). Bauer also authored a non-fiction humor book called From ‘I Do’ to ‘I’ll Sue’: An Irreverent Compendium for Survivors of Divorce. Sexy Baby won the Founders Prize for Best Film by a First Time Director at the 2012 Traverse City Film Festival and Hot Girls Wanted was nominated in 2015 for a Primetime Emmy and the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

When she was 15 years old, Bauer interviewed Barbara Walters, an experience that encouraged her to never stop asking questions. After graduating from the University of Florida in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. Bauer began working for Esquire magazine where she stayed as a research assistant until 1993. In September 1995, Bauer launched SmartKid magazine. SmartKid was created for parents of children 7–13 years old and focused on the "executive father and mother, as opposed to the at-home mom most frequently targeted by traditional parenting magazines." Bauer worked as the managing editor for SmartKid magazine until September 1997.

Over the next 30 years of her career, Bauer worked as a journalist and editor at the Miami Herald, Miami Magazine,The New York Times and The Dallas Morning News. At the Miami Herald, one of Bauer’s main beats was focusing on relationships. From 2006 to 2009, she was an editorial contributor for the University of Miami Magazine and since December 2008 she has been a director and producer for Two to Tangle Productions. In 2008, Bauer met photographer Ronna Gradus while they were both working at the Miami Herald. The two would both leave their jobs at the Miami Herald and work on subsequent documentary projects together.