Louis Theroux

The Trustees’ Award recognises an outstanding contribution to the craft of documentary making and has previously been awarded to greats such as Sir David Attenborough and John Battsek.

Theroux, who has been involved in documentary making for more than 20 years, has participated in some of America’s strangest pursuits and explored some of the most important subjects of the modern day, including transgender children and alcoholism.

Announcing the award, Chairman of the Grierson Trust, Lorraine Heggessey says: "Louis is a filmmaker who has effectively created his own genre."

In Brain Injury (working title), Theroux will spend time with staff and patients at the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust, one of the UK’s largest providers of neuro-behavioural rehabilitation, to find out how individuals and their loved ones cope with life-changing brain injuries that effect an estimated one million people in the UK.

Michael Jackson's stellar career encapsulates much of the creative history of TV during the past 30 years. He was an innovative independent producer back in the 1980s, reinvented BBC Two in the 1990s, and went on to run Channel 4. There, he launched Queer as Folk, Ali G and Big Brother, before crossing the Atlantic to work for the legendary mogul Barry Diller.

Today, still based in New York, his career has swung full circle. Jackson is once again working as a producer.