Kirsten Kelly

documentary filmmaker

Bio: Kirsten is an Emmy and Golden Telly Award-winning documentary filmmaker, Co-founder of Spargel Productions and former Senior Producer at Transform Films/Odyssey Impact. Her upcoming film This Is Where I Learned Not To Sleep will premiere Spring 2023 looks at the need for police reform surrounding crimes against women and children. Her film, The Homestretch, about homeless high school students in the Chicago Public Schools, appeared on PBS and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Reporting. At Transform Films/Odyssey Impact she was Senior Producer of the Telly Award-winning series, Healing the Healers, about faith leaders responding to mass shootings, domestic violence and teen mental health crisis. Kirsten is a leader in impact campaigns for documentary films and media. Her projects have been supported by the MacArthur Foundation, the Sundance Institute, ITVS, Kartemquin Films, Good Pitch, The Bertha Foundation, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, Chicago Media Project, Chicken and Egg and The Fledgling Fund, among others. Kirsten is a member of the Sundance Documentary Institute and a graduate of Juilliard’s Master Directing program.