‘Beyond the Gaze’ Trailer: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Doc Pays Tribute to the Annual Issue’s Creator, Jule Campbell

The Woman Behind the "Sports Illustrated" Swimsuit Issue

Carol Alt and Kathy Ireland, on location for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The Polaroid is by Jule Campbell. A new documentary explores the complicated legacy of Jule Campbell, the woman behind the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue By Terry McDonell Wherever I went as the editor of Sports Illustrated, the first question was inevitably about the Swimsuit Issue. Not about a favorite player or team or the Super Bowl or scoring tickets or a…

‘Beyond the Gaze’ Trailer: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Doc Pays Tribute to the Annual Issue’s Creator, Jule Campbell

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue was such a juggernaut by the late 2000s. It not only was the single best-selling issue across all of magazine publisher Time Inc. each year, but it was also largely responsible for funding most of Sports Illustrated’s editorial operations for the rest of the year. No wonder: The annual issue had launched, or furthered, the careers of supermodels Cheryl Tiegs, Kathy Ireland, Elle Macpherson, Paulina Porizkova…

Doc 'Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell's Swimsuit Issue' Official Trailer

"She never really got the credit that she deserved." Red Barn Productions has debuted an official trailer for a documentary film titled Beyond the Gaze: Jule Campbell's Swimsuit Issue, opening this month. This premiered at the 2024 Montclair Film Festival last year, and it also played at the 2025 Santa Barbara Film Festival earlier this year. The film tells the story of Jule Campbell and her 32-year reign as editor of Sports Illustrated's Swimsu…