Helena Coan on perfecting documentary with ‘Chasing Perfect’
Helena Coan stepped into directing with a sharp eye for personal stories and a background that mixed film archives with production work. The London-based filmmaker began her career digitizing home movies from the 1960s and 1970s at Kinolibrary, then moved into short-form documentary work at Chocolate Films for museums and galleries. Her early narrative short Keepsake screened at the Underwire Film Festival and earned a screenwriting nomination, setting the stage for her first feature assignment.
In 2017, Lionsgate and Salon Pictures asked Coan to direct a documentary about legendary car designer Frank Stephenson. After reviewing his portfolio, she signed on and completed Chasing Perfect, which explored Stephenson’s influence across decades of automotive design. The film marked her entry into feature-length nonfiction and established her as a director comfortable with long-form subjects.
Coan’s interest in music ran parallel to her film work. She fronted the band Dios Mio before releasing the solo single Baptise, which received BBC Radio 1 airplay. She has described music as a secondary creative outlet that complements her directing schedule rather than competing with it.
Subsequent Documentaries and Narrative Shorts
After Audrey, Coan expanded her range with projects that moved across genres. She directed the short horror film Blood Rites in 2022. In 2021 she completed Lioness: The Nicola Adams Story, a sports biography about the British boxer. Most recently she directed The Lie: The Murder of Grace Millane, a 2024 true-crime documentary. These credits show a filmmaker testing different tones while staying focused on character-driven material.
Transition to Narrative Features
During the 2019 interview, Coan mentioned a five-year goal of writing and directing a narrative feature. Recent updates indicate that plan has moved forward. An Instagram post referenced her first narrative feature in development, with Nicola Adams attached and involvement from Lionsgate and Salon Pictures. The project remains in early stages, but it signals a shift toward scripted work after years of nonfiction.
Professional Representation and Current Profile
Coan is now represented by Under New Mgmt. She maintains helenacoan.com, which highlights both her documentary and narrative output. The site positions her as a director working across formats rather than one tied to a single genre. This formal representation and online presence reflect a career stage that has advanced since the original profile.
Reception and Legacy of Audrey
Audrey, the documentary about Audrey Hepburn that Coan discussed as an upcoming project, was released in December 2020 on digital platforms and physical media. Produced by the same Salon Pictures team behind McQueen, the film received critical acclaim across markets and later became available on streaming services. It remains one of her most widely seen works.
Coan’s early influences remain consistent with what she described in 2019. Charlie Chaplin’s economy of shots and performance style was the first major draw. She later connected with the work of Stanley Kubrick, Andrea Arnold, Lynne Ramsay, Werner Herzog, and Alejandro Jodorowsky. She has also cited The Sopranos as a continuing point of reference. These touchstones continue to inform her approach to pacing and character.
Her comments on the creative process have held up as well. Coan stressed the need to identify the core of a story before deciding how to tell it. She described documentary work as a collaborative effort that requires vulnerability from both director and subject. Patience, she noted, often determines whether the real story surfaces during production.
Coan’s stated mission—to portray people who transform trauma into something constructive—appears across her subsequent projects. The Lie examines the aftermath of a high-profile murder, while Lioness follows an athlete who built a public career after personal hardship. These films extend the same interest in resilience that shaped Chasing Perfect.
Advice she offered to emerging filmmakers also remains relevant. She recommended building a network of peers who offer mutual support and warned young women to evaluate whose guidance they accept. She continues to highlight collaboration as essential rather than optional.
Coan’s trajectory since the 2019 interview shows steady movement from archival work to feature documentaries and now toward narrative features. Her filmography includes short horror, sports biography, and true-crime subjects, all while maintaining the focus on personal transformation that first drew her to Stephenson’s story. The addition of agency representation and an active development slate suggests the next phase of her career will test new formats while building on the same core interests.
