Producer - Director - Shooter - Writer - Editor
Documentary / Transmedia
I have produced over 50 short and long format documentary programs shown around the world - from mobile screenings in rural African villages to broadcast with network such as PBS, BBC and Arte.
My directorial work on ‘Master Positive’, a documentary about an HIV positive African man who makes papier-mâché coffins, earned me honors from Canada's BANFF World Television Festival and was part of a series that received the Special Jury Citation at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (2001).
I have also received six Emmy nominations (2007, 2009) for documentary productions at PBS New Mexico, with two Emmy wins (2009) for my pioneering work in transmedia, including creating the series Artisodes, documentary shorts profiling contemporary artists.
My transmedia company, OKAHANDJA 90, works with creatives, small businesses, and non-profits, providing multimedia production, audience engagement and social media distribution strategies, to produce marketing campaigns that tell stories, generate conversations and create .
Running my own business as an independent filmmaker since 1994, I am responsible for acquiring and servicing client projects, securing foundation and investment funds for media productions, and strategizing and managing community engagement campaigns. Issues I have focused on include democracy, HIV-AIDS, fair resource use, and cross-cultural relations, working with clients such as The Ford Foundation, UNAIDS, HIVOS, Overseas Development Administration, Steps International, The Coffee Trust, Theater Embassy and government organization in France, Finland, Namibia and South Africa.
A media-maker in the US, Africa, Latin America and most recently Asia, I am accustomed to working under extreme physical and logistical conditions in remote regions and with different cultural groups. My directorial style is exploratory, comedic and carries plenty of character empathy.
I love exploring new territories in the open wide world of the digital media landscape and am passionate about the future of storytelling where audiences become part of the storytelling experience. At heart, I am an adventurer, afflicted with an entrepreneurial spirit. I hold a B.A. in International Development Studies at the University of California, Berkeley (1990).
This website is a visual selection of my work and serves as a showreel for some of my projects over the years.
For more information contact: kelly@kellykowalski.com
My directorial work on ‘Master Positive’, a documentary about an HIV positive African man who makes papier-mâché coffins, earned me honors from Canada's BANFF World Television Festival and was part of a series that received the Special Jury Citation at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (2001).
I have also received six Emmy nominations (2007, 2009) for documentary productions at PBS New Mexico, with two Emmy wins (2009) for my pioneering work in transmedia, including creating the series Artisodes, documentary shorts profiling contemporary artists.
My transmedia company, OKAHANDJA 90, works with creatives, small businesses, and non-profits, providing multimedia production, audience engagement and social media distribution strategies, to produce marketing campaigns that tell stories, generate conversations and create .
Running my own business as an independent filmmaker since 1994, I am responsible for acquiring and servicing client projects, securing foundation and investment funds for media productions, and strategizing and managing community engagement campaigns. Issues I have focused on include democracy, HIV-AIDS, fair resource use, and cross-cultural relations, working with clients such as The Ford Foundation, UNAIDS, HIVOS, Overseas Development Administration, Steps International, The Coffee Trust, Theater Embassy and government organization in France, Finland, Namibia and South Africa.
A media-maker in the US, Africa, Latin America and most recently Asia, I am accustomed to working under extreme physical and logistical conditions in remote regions and with different cultural groups. My directorial style is exploratory, comedic and carries plenty of character empathy.
I love exploring new territories in the open wide world of the digital media landscape and am passionate about the future of storytelling where audiences become part of the storytelling experience. At heart, I am an adventurer, afflicted with an entrepreneurial spirit. I hold a B.A. in International Development Studies at the University of California, Berkeley (1990).
This website is a visual selection of my work and serves as a showreel for some of my projects over the years.
For more information contact: kelly@kellykowalski.com
