About Karyn
Next Director »Karyn Kusama is an Emmy-nominated film and television director whose singular work uses genre to explore complex human relationships and emotions such as grief, identity, and anxiety.
She made her feature debut with the sports drama Girlfight (2000), which won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Director’s Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, as well as the Prix de la Jeunesse at Cannes. She went on to direct sci-fi love story Æon Flux (2005), cult horror comedy Jennifer’s Body (2009), indie thriller The Invitation (2015), and Golden Globe-nominated crime drama Destroyer (2018). She has also worked extensively in television, directing numerous episodes of such series as Halt and Catch Fire, Masters of Sex, Billions, and Yellowjackets, where she earned an Emmy nomination for her direction of the pilot episode. In advertising, Karyn has also made her mark with impactful work such as her “Your Voice” PSA for Planned Parenthood, aimed at rallying voters in a post-Dobbs society.
Karyn is represented by Institute for commercial work, and she also co-owns the film and television production company Familystyle Film along with her husband, screenwriter Phil Hay, and his writing partner Matt Manfredi. She is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
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