Evan Hayes is an Academy Award, BAFTA & Emmy Award-winning producer & director and the Head of Film & Television at Unreasonable Studios (UNR). He is known for his work on both critically acclaimed documentaries and high-profile scripted films.
Hayes’s current projects include the upcoming Netflix original film The Truth & Tragedy of Moriah Wilson directed by Marina Zenovich, Max Lowe’s ultrarunning film Learning to Fly which recently premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, as well as the feature documentary Sail about the 37th America’s Cup, which Evan co-directed with Frank Marshall for IMAX & Skydance Sports in partnership with Louis Vuitton.
Other recent films produced by Hayes include the adventure thriller Buried, which became a Top 10 movie for Netflix, the scripted series Maggie for Hulu, Liz Garbus’ Critics Choice-winning & BAFTA-nominated film Becoming Cousteau, Stacy Peralta’s surf epic The Yin & Yang of Gerry Lopez made in partnership with Patagonia Films, as well as Dawn Porter’s award-winning film The Way I See It about Chief White House Photographer Pete Souza, for Focus Features.
In 2019, Hayes won an Oscar for producing Free Solo, directed by E. Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin for National Geographic Films. The film, which follows Alex Honnold’s historic free solo climb of El Capitan, became a global phenomenon and earned widespread recognition for its breathtaking cinematography and gripping storytelling. In addition to winning an Academy Award, the film also won a BAFTA, four Critics Choice Awards, and seven Primetime Emmy Awards, among others.
Before joining UNR, Hayes served as President of Parkes+MacDonald/Image Nation, where he oversaw the entire slate of film & television projects including Men in Black: International for Sony Pictures, Rings for Paramount Pictures, The Circle starring Tom Hanks & Emma Watson, and He Named Me Malala directed by Academy Award-winner Davis Guggenheim. Prior to that, Hayes served as President of Story Mining & Supply Co. where he oversaw the Starz original series Outlander as well as the feature film The Yellow Birds.
Hayes also spent eleven years at Working Title Films where he served as a producer or executive on such films as Everest, Rush, Les Miserables, Contraband, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Paul, Green Zone, A Serious Man, State of Play, Frost/Nixon, Burn After Reading, Definitely Maybe, Love Actually, Atonement, Hot Fuzz, Smokin’ Aces, United 93, and Senna. Prior to joining Working Title, Hayes worked for producer Philip Steuer (Narnia, Oz: Great & Powerful) and in Paramount Pictures’ Financial Planning and Creative Affairs departments.
Born and raised in Massachusetts, Hayes is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. He is a member of the British Academy of Film & Television Arts, the Producer’s Guild of America, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.