Kelly Whalen

Roles: Director

Kelly Whalen is an Oakland, CA-based documentary filmmaker, with two decades of experience directing and producing short and long-form documentary for national PBS. She directed and produced the national Emmy-nominated documentary Tulia, Texas, a cautionary tale about the price Americans pay for the nation’s war on drugs, which premiered at SXSW. She produced the PBS series Livelyhood, the Not In Our Town special Light in the Darkness, The Fire Next Time (POV), Murder in St. Petersburg (FRONTLINE World,) Policing the Force (WNET’s Expose: America’s Investigative Reports,) and Everything Comes from the Streets, which documented the history of lowriding and Chicano culture in Kelly’s hometown of San Diego and screened at festivals world wide. In 2015, Kelly joined San Francisco’s PBS affiliate KQED to produce short form documentaries about artists, and today leads the video unit, managing nearly a dozen producers and directors contributing to KQED Arts. Kelly has been awarded three Northern California Emmys for her KQED Arts shorts, her work was selected for a prestigious Vimeo Staff Pick, and recognized as a Webby finalist.