Kerry David

Filmmaker, Kerry David, began her career at Paramount Pictures in Business Affairs in 2000, where she learned the contract side of filmmaking. She followed this with three years working exclusively for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman learning all aspects of physical production. Films with Cruise and Kidman include 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 and produced films that included; the award-winning; Deposing the Usual Suspects (MGM), Agent Cody Banks and Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (MGM), Perfect Romance (Lifetime), and the critically acclaimed audience pleaser; My Date with Drew, which won multiple awards including Best Feature at the HBO Comedy Arts Festival, Aspen, Sonoma, NY Gen Art Film Festival and the Audience Award at the prestigious Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland.

She followed “My Date with Drew” by producing, Expert Insight: Short Game Golf with Jim Furyk & Fred Funk, an educational DVD; which won a Telly-Award for Outstanding Instructional Content and Cinematic Excellence.

Kerry’s next feature film was adapted from the NY Times bestseller Like Dandelion Dust (20th Century Fox) by friend, and Oscar nominee, Stephen J. Rivele, (Ali, Nixon). It starred Cole Hauser, Mira Sorvino and Barry Pepper. Like Dandelion Dust won over 35 film festivals globally, including Best Feature at the Heartland Film Festival and the Palm Springs International Film Festival. It premiered at the prestigious Deauville Film Festival in France where it won the Premiere Audience Award for Best Feature and received a 10-minute standing ovation!

Her fourth documentary was Making Miles – The Miles Davis Story, for HBO, followed by; Seeking Happily Ever After (Lionsgate Films), one of only 25 films accepted into the Sundance Film Lab and chosen by Stanford University’s law department as a case study for ‘Fair Use’.

In 2001, concurrent with her film work, Kerry Founded Indieproducer.net (iP), an online community to nurture new and emerging filmmakers. (iP) provided access and an insider’s perspective to a career in Hollywood. Leaning on her industry contacts, Kerry invited notable guests to attend events with members, which often evolved into mentorship opportunities. She added an annual screenwriting contest and bi-annual short film contest all culminating in stages. sponsored, ‘Annual Awards Gala’ at the prestigious Writers Guild Theatre in Beverly Hills. (Ip) reached 130 countries with over 86,000 members when she sold it in 2010.

From 2010-2013 Kerry took a leave of absence from Hollywood to build a musical village for orphans in Ghana, West Africa. After successfully negotiating for the land with 3 tribal chiefs, she went on to lead a team of architects and contractors in the design and build stages. She hired key staff and personnel to launch the orphanage and ultimately manage its growth. Never far from her filmmaking roots, Kerry wrote, directed and produced several mini docs about the school and the children to raise funds and awareness back in the United States. After completing the orphanage, Kerry returned to her passion of filmmaking.

Fascinated by the recent advent of crowdsourcing, began producing crowdfunding campaigns for passion projects, raising over $500,000 for various non-profits, productions, and artists.

In 2017, Kerry added directing to her roles in filmmaking and took on her now award-winning feature documentary; Bill Coors: The Will to Live. “WTL” was about the troubled, but impressive private life of the brewing titan’s long battle with depression and anxiety and his obsession to find a holistic cure. She cut a shorter version of her film at the request of two universities in Colorado to include in their curriculums to address mental health and suicide prevention needs on campus.

In 2017, Kerry founded her now global non-profit, Over and Above Africa. O&AA prevents further extinction of endangered species in Africa by partnering with the people and orgs most impacted by the wildlife. What makes Over and Above Africa unique is that they create mini-docs of each project funded, which Kerry writes, produces and directs, gratis.

The many impressive stories Kerry heard while traveling in Africa inspired her to write, produce and direct, her now multiple award-winning film; Breaking Their Silence:Women on the Frontline of the Poaching War.

After accruing 17 festival wins, (including winning both the Jury Awards and the Audience Awards at the San Diego Intl. Film Festival and the Durango Film Festival), COVID shut down their successful run.

Pivoting, Kerry and her investors decided to release BTS through the newly rebranded, Wondrium network. Shortly afterwards, Kerry was asked to give a TEDx Talk about her experience filming, Breaking Their Silence, and was featured in segments on many high-profile shows including, The Today Show, CNN, BBC, People Magazine, Huffington Post, E Entertainment, Parade Magazine, and many others.

In 2019 Kerry relocated from Los Angeles to North Carolina where she was encouraged to write, produce, and direct, “Open Secret,” a documentary revealing systemic corruption and collusion in a cover-up culture stemming back decades.

Midway through 2022, Hallmark greenlit Kerry’s long championed feature film; “The Road Ahead” starring Holly Robinson-Peete. A fictional drama about two women from very different generations, who heal each other’s broken lives during a road trip across the US.

Kerry has been a guest speaker at several schools and events; including University of Southern California, University of California at Los Angeles, Pepperdine University, the New York Film Academy and for Credit Suisse, New York.
She has written numerous articles for various industry magazines and continues to be a student of life and explore all exciting possibilities!