Kerry David

Activist, Artist, Brainstormer, Business leader, Change agent, Connector, Consultant, Educator/Teacher, Entrepreneur, Environmentalist, Filmmaker, Idea generator, Philanthropist, Photographer, Producer, World traveler, Writer/Editor

Producer/Director/Writer, Kerry David, has been working in the film and television industry for more than 20 years. She began her career at Paramount Pictures on the contract side of filmmaking, after which she spent three years working exclusively for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. She was executive assistant to Cruise and Kidman during such films as Mission Impossible 2, Without Limits, Portrait of a Lady, Peacemaker, Practical Magic, The Blue Room, and Eyes Wide Shut with legendary director Stanley Kubrick. Armed with this experience, Kerry started her own production company. She coproduced the award-winning DVD Deposing the Usual Suspects, followed by Agent Cody Banks and Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London. She subsequently produced Perfect Romance for Lifetime Television, and the critically acclaimed feature documentary; My Date with Drew. “Drew” won multiple awards globally, including the Audience Award for Best Feature at the HBO Comedy Arts Festival, Best Feature at the NY Gen Art Film Festival, and the Audience Award at The Locarno International Film Festival. This led to a worldwide theatrical release through Blockbuster Entertainment. She next produced Expert Insight: Short Game Golf with Jim Furyk & Fred Funk, which won a Telly Award for Outstanding Instructional Content and Cinematic Excellence. Kerry’s next feature was adapted from the New York Times bestseller Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury. Kerry hired Oscar nominee Stephen J. Rivele (Ali, Nixon) to adapt the book, and the film was released by 20th Century Fox, starring Mira Sorvino and Barry Pepper. Like Dandelion Dust won more than 35 film festival accolades, including awards from the Heartland Film Festival and the Palm Springs International Film Festival. It also premiered at the prestigious Deauville Film Festival in France where it won the Premiere Audience Award for Best Feature. She produced her fourth documentary, Making Miles - The Miles Davis Story, for HBO directed by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Christopher Wilkinson (Ali, Nixon). She followed this documentary by producing, writing and co-directing Seeking Happily Ever After, which was one of only 25 films accepted into the Sundance Film Lab as a work in progress. It was also used by Stanford University’s law department as a case study for fair use practices and was distributed by Lionsgate Films. From 2010-2013 Kerry took a leave of absence from Hollywood to build an orphanage in Ghana, West Africa. After negotiating for the land with three tribal chiefs, she worked with a team of architects, a contractor from Habitat for Humanity and a small team of Ghanaians to oversee design, budget and create BBSCF Musical Village for Orphans. Ever the filmmaker, she produced, wrote and directed several mini-documentaries during that time to fundraise and bring awareness for the school. She launched the orphanage in 2013 and to this day, considers it the experience of her lifetime. In 2017, Kerry directed, wrote and produced her multiple award-winning feature documentary; "Bill Coors: The Will to Live" about the fascinating private life of famed brewer, Bill Coors and his battle to overcome depression. She later cut a half hour version of the film after two universities requested it be added to their school curriculums to help tackle the difficult conversation with teens around the serious issues of mental health and suicide. With the advent of crowdsourcing, Kerry began managing crowdfunding campaigns for passion projects, raising over $500,000 for various non-profits, productions and artists. It was around this time that Kerry learned of the devastating facts attached to endangered species in Africa & Asia from poaching and wildlife trafficking. She was moved to action and launched the innovative non-profit Over and Above Africa. Additionally, she started writing, producing and directing her now multiple award-winning documentary, Breaking Their Silence: Women on the Frontline of the Poaching War which most recently won both Best Feature Documentary and Audience Award for Best Documentary at the San Diego Film Festival to be their Focus on Social Impact Film of 2019. She is currently in pre-production on “Open Secret” her third feature documentary as writer/producer/director. In addition to her award-winning film work, Kerry gave an inspirational talk at Ted X-Charlottesville, about her experience making Breaking Their Silence. She has been featured on several news outlets such as CNN, and The Today Show. She has been a guest speaker, panelist, and moderator at schools including University of Southern California, University of California at Los Angeles, Pepperdine University, and the New York Film Academy. She has written articles for various magazines and online outlets, including MovieMaker Magazine and Script. She is a voting member of BAFTA and a member of Film Independent. www.BreakingTheirSilence.com www.linkedin.com/in/kerrydavid

Filmmaking, reading, writing, directing, producing, horse riding, connecting with family & friends, hiking, my dogs, traveling, teaching, learning, creating, ideas, collaborating.

Here's an idea - if you spend one day a week (to start!) appreciating every thing that happens to you that day, and every interaction you have with another being that day, and for your good health, your vitality and your friends and family........I guarantee that your day will be a shining example of what your life could be like every day......try it :-)

Event Planning, Film & Television Production, Horse Riding, Management, Mentoring, Promotions & Marketing, Writing