Tracy Droz Tragos

Tragos received her undergraduate degree in fiction writing from Northwestern University and her MFA in screenwriting from the University of Southern California.^[6] In 2003, she directed her first documentary, Be Good, Smile Pretty, it aired on PBS's Independent Lens and won an Emmy in the category of best documentary at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards in 2004.^[7]

In 2014, along with her first cousin Andrew Droz Palermo, she co-directed Rich Hill, a family drama set in the small Missouri town of Rich Hill. It won the best documentary at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.^[8][9] Though the film highlights family issues in rural America, Traz Dragos and Palermo, who was also the DP, made sure not to sensationalize poverty, they said when the film screened at the Tribeca Film Festival.^[9] Droz Tragos said their deep family roots in the community helped in terms of gaining people's trust. She said that her grandparents, a school teacher and a postal worker "were respected members of the community. So it was on their good name that we made the connections with the subjects. I also made a film [Be Good, Smile Pretty] about my father, who was from that town, and a lot of people in town had seen that film and felt comfortable with me. There was a lot of trust from the get-go."^[9]

For Rich Hill, the filmmakers spent so much time with their subjects that they captured nearly 450 hours. The film's editor, Jim Hession, was tasked with paring that down to 93 minutes for the finished film.^[5]

In 2016, Tragos directed and produced the documentary Abortion: Stories Women Tell, which was broadcast on HBO and nominated for an Emmy for outstanding social issue documentary at the 37th News and Documentary Emmy Awards.^[10] She was the recipient of a 2020 Guggenheim fellowship.^[11] In 2021, She directed The Smartest Kids in the World, based on the New York Times bestseller The Smartest Kids in the World.^[12]

In 2023, Tragos' documentary, Plan C, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.^[13] Shot over four years, Plan C captures the work of the Plan C campaign activists and providers who began to mail abortion pills during the pandemic.^[14]

She is an adjunct professor teaching documentary filmmaking at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.^[6]

Tragos has two children, Charlotte Dorothy Tragos and Samuel Glenn Tragos, and is married to advertising executive Christian George Tragos.^[15]

In January 2025, Tragos' home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles burned down due to the Palisades Fire.^[16]