Biography

Director of photography Laela Kilbourn has accomplished narrative and documentary works that present intimate portraits of character and compelling stories of transformation; her over thirty years in filmmaking inform her use of verité and studio techniques to build cinematic experiences of discovery and connection. An Emmy winner for Outstanding Cinematography for her work on GIRLS STATE, she also won a Best Feature Cinematography festival award for SWIM TEAM, and has filmed eight Sundance Film Festival documentary feature premieres, such as the DuPont-Columbia Journalism Award winner THIS IS HOME: A REFUGEE STORY; Peabody Award winning HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO; and Emmy nominated WORD WARS. She also shot SYNC OR SWIM, winner of the Billie Award for Journalism from the Women’s Sports Foundation, and filmed History’s eleven part docuseries SANDHOGS. Her noted narrative work includes the black comedy CRABS IN A BARREL, featured on HBOmax; THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF QUEENS, awarded Best Narrative Short Film at Katra Latinx Festival; SOMEONE LOVES YOU, Best Short Film winner at ESSENCE Film Festival ; and the feature DEATH OF A FOOL, available on Amazon Prime Video. She has worked on projects for FX, NBC, PBS, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Epix, Amazon Studios, AMC, A&E, TBS, Nick Jr., NickMom, ESPN, Disney, History, MTV, VH1, and WeTV. A member of the International Cinematographers Guild IATSE Local 600, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, New York Women in Film & Television, and the International Collective of Female+ Cinematographers, she has served as a juror for the Emmys, the Cinema Eye Honors, and the Brooklyn International Film Festival, as a panelist on cinematography at the Canon Creative Studio and DOC NYC PRO, and as a guest speaker at The New School. She has a degree in social anthropology from Harvard University.

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