Jihan Robinson

Jihan Robinson is vice president of Alternative Programming, Freeform. Robinson oversees non-fiction and alternative content for Disney General Entertainment’s young adult network and will report to Jamila Hunter, executive vice president, Original Programming and Development.

Prior to this role, Robinson, an Emmy®-nominated independent producer and executive, was head of documentaries at Quibi, the premium entertainment platform founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg. In this role, she oversaw the strategy, development and production of all documentary programming, including chaptered feature films, short-form series and short films. Aired titles include “I Promise,” “Blackballed,” “Nightgowns,” “You Ain’t Got These, Run This City,” “Shape of Pasta,” “Prodigy,” “&Music,” “Fierce Queens,” “Benedict Men,” “Sex Next Door” and “Big Rad Wolf.”

Before Quibi, Robinson acted as vice president of Nonfiction Programming at Topic Studios, where she oversaw the financing, development and production of documentary series and feature films. At Topic, she executive produced “Pahokee” (Sundance FF, 2019), “Black 14” (Sundance FF, 2019), “Wrinkles the Clown” (sold to Magnet Releasing/Magnolia Pictures) and “Love Fraud” (Sundance FF, 2020; sold to Showtime) in addition to providing financing for “The Fight” (Sundance FF, 2020; sold to Magnolia Pictures), “Mucho Mucho Amor” (Sundance FF, 2020; sold to Netflix), “A Thousand Cuts” (Sundance FF, 2020) and “Attica Uprising” (sold to Showtime).

In her independent work, she produced “Traveling While Black,” a VR documentary about race and restricted movement in America. The film, directed by Academy Award®-winning documentarian Roger Ross Williams, premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Original Interactive Program. The first feature film she produced, “The Seventh Fire,” premiered at the 2015 Berlinale and was later acquired by Film Movement.

Previously, she worked in the Original Documentaries division of Netflix where she executive produced “Casting JonBenet” (Sundance FF, 2017), “Get Me Roger Stone” (Tribeca FF, 2017), “Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On” (Sundance FF, 2017) and “Last Chance U.” In addition, she acquired “One of Us” (TIFF, 2017; Oscar Shortlist 2018), “Cuba and the Cameraman” (Venice FF, 2017), “Flint PD,” “Rapture” (SXSW, 2018), and “The Rachel Divide” (Tribeca FF, 2018).

Prior to her role with Netflix, she worked at Pivot, Participant Media’s television arm, where she oversaw development of alternative and unscripted programming and acted as an executive producer on the documentary strand Panoramica. Titles included “Cesar’s Last Fast” (Sundance FF, 2014), “Marmato” (Sundance FF, 2014), “Crossing Over: Stories of Identity and Immigration” (2015 GLAAD Award winner for Best Spanish Language Documentary) and “Death By A Thousand Cuts” (Hot Docs 2016). Before joining Participant, Robinson worked in programming at HBO Documentary Films. She was involved in the acquisition, development and post-production of over fifty films and three series.

She received her Bachelor of Arts in art history and social science in the arts from SUNY Purchase College and a Master of Arts in arts administration from Columbia University. In July 2020, Robinson was invited to join the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.