“You’re never too old to reinvent yourself.”

KELLY KRAUSE is a genre filmmaker with a background in archaeology, burlesque and witchcraft.

After more than fourteen years in the archaeological sector, working with projects and institutions that include the Egyptian Ministry of State of Antiquities, UNESCO, History Channel and Discovery Channel, Kelly was ready for her next adventure. Returning to her creative roots in theater, she took up burlesque. Fast forward a couple of years and Kelly was writing a short script for her next act—she was hooked!

Kelly’s screenplays are among the Top 1% of the Coverfly Red List, and have placed highly in PAGE, Screencraft, Roadmap Writers, GenreBlast, and Table Read My Screenplay, among others. 

As a director, Kelly's focus is on creating empathy, especially amidst uncomfortable backdrops or circumstances. Her psychological horror short, Storage (2023), was backed by Couper Samuelson, President of Feature Films at Blumhouse (Get Out, Whiplash, M3GAN). The film won “Best Dark Drama” at Oregon Screams Horror Film Festival and was a finalist in several other festivals around the world. Kelly is also a guest director on the forthcoming comedy web series Bernadette the Brave and in prep on surrealist drama short Bleed, with award-winning producer Luna Zhang.

As the Co-founder of Nyx Horror Collective, she has partnered with Stowe Story Labs to create a fellowship for woman-identifying horror screenwriters, and with streaming platform SHUDDER to produce anthology short film series 13 Minutes of Horror (2021 - 2022), featuring projects from women and non-binary creators. 13 Minutes won “Best Short Film” at the 2022 Rondo Hatton Horror Awards, the only women-led project nominated in that category.

​Kelly is currently developing her own production company, Dark Coven, which aims to develop an equity-driven, co-op style production model for indie genre projects from underrepresented voices.

Kelly fenced sabre for Boston University and was previously scouted for the Egyptian National Boxing Team, but don't worry, she prefers to kill you with kindness rather than with her hands (or sword!). She is also a practicing witch and isn't afraid to use her powers for good. Firmly into her fourth decade, Kelly's journey has taught her to never wait for permission to create and that you're never too old to reinvent yourself — go get it!