Andrea Kalin is a pioneering creative visionary and founder of Spark Media, a renowned production company dedicated to crafting stories that possess a strong social conscience. Her extensive filmography has garnered widespread acclaim, with her films airing on major networks globally, screening theatrically to sold-out audiences, and earning over 100 industry awards, including a Prime Time Emmy, Golden Globe, and WGA nominations.
Andrea's films have a unique ability to bring viewers to the emotional front lines, where they are exposed to the lives of courage, perseverance, and dignity that transcend seemingly insurmountable hardships. Her recent film, Public Defender, premiered at Mountainfilm 2024, where it won the Moving Mountains Award. Other notable recent films include Scattering CJ, which won the Audience Award at the Dunedin International Film Festival and the Pioneer Award at the Richmond International Film Festival, and aired on PBS and WORLD Channel; First Lady of the Revolution, which won ten awards, including Best Documentary Feature at the Sidewalk, Fairhope, and Oxford Film Festivals, aired on public television's REEL South series, screened 50 times internationally, and was selected to tour the U.S. with the Southern Circuit; Red Lines, which was voted a top-20 audience pick at Hot Docs Film Festival, won Best Documentary Feature at the Woodstock Film Festival, won Most Disturbing Documentary at Ramdam International, and garnered the Humanitarian Award at the Tiburon International Film Festival, among other accolades; No Evidence of Disease, which was released by Regal Cinemas on 47 screens on World Cancer Day, was broadcast on American Public Television, WORLD Channel, and in Spanish on VME, and was showcased at high-profile events on Capitol Hill, and in 80 community screenings across the U.S. and around the world.
Her diverse filmography also includes Smithsonian Channel's Worlds of Sound and Soul of a People: Writing America's Story; PBS's Prince Among Slaves, Talking Through Walls, and The Pact, and a theatrical release, Allah Made me Funny, starring Mo Amer.
Kalin's debut, Partners of the Heart, narrated by Morgan Freeman, was named one of "NEH's 50 Best", aired on PBS' "American Experience", won the Erik Barnouw Award for Best History Documentary, and inspired the award-winning HBO original, Something the Lord Made, starring Alan Rickman and Mos Def.
Andrea believes that all her films reflect a common spark: an inspired-and inspiring-impulse to shine a light on the unexpected and to share stories that become a part of who we are and how we see our world.
