DIRECTOR/DP + WRITER
ABOUT
Originally from Australia, Christel is an LA based director/DP, writer, and executive producer, dedicated to innovative, socially conscious and comedic storytelling. Armed with a pen and a camera, she's captured compelling images and powerful stories, from the streets of Kolkata to villages in Malawi, dominatrix dungeons in Manhattan and the boardrooms of Capitol Hill.
Christel recently wrote, directed and executive produced An Idiot's Guide to Climate Change starring Rainn Wilson from The Office and Greta Thunberg - a docu-series for SoulPancake and Participant Media.
She also recently wrote and directed Her American Dream - a short doc series for MOSTe, a non-profit organization for the education of disadvantaged girls. For most of 2019, Christel traveled across the US filming over 20 grieving families for the feature documentary and digital series Speaking Grief by PBS/WPSU, airing on public TV from May, 2020.
Her portfolio includes work for Revelations, The White House, SoulPancake/Participant Media, PBS, The Academy of Motion Pictures, Overbrook Ent, Wayfarer Ent, ThinkFactory Media, Fusion TV and various non-profit organizations. She's worked on feature films, documentaries, reality/unscripted TV, music videos and commercials, for demanding agencies, global brands and non-profit organizations, from micro to multi-million-dollar budgets.
She began her career by working as a camera assistant on Obama's White House PSA short docs Joining Forces with Hanks, Spielberg and Oprah, and Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman.
Christel's first experience as a documentarian was at 17 when she set off to Zimbabwe, Egypt and Kenya with a camera to explore how female genital mutilation impacts the lives of women and girls. Throughout her studies, Christel worked with children's organizations on the ground throughout India, Europe, and Africa.
Christel graduated with a BA in Communication: Creative Writing from the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), where she won the UTS Human Rights Award for Women in 08. She also studied International Journalism and Documentary Film at the University of Westminster in London.
Christel is also a former professional dancer having danced in videos for artists Kylie Minogue, Adam Lambert and Maroon 5. She still dances: tap, hip hop and angry ballet, much to the dismay of her neighbors.
NEWS
Writer and director of An Idiot's Guide to Climate Change - a docu-series
starring Rainn Wilson and Greta Thunberg for SoulPancake/Participant.
Feature doc Speaking Grief - for PBS/WPSU, airs on public TV from May.
Press: Aussie Activist Behind the Filmmaker's Lens in Los Angeles
Check out new filmmaking and femtech lab THE FEMALE FACTORY
AGENCY
Christel is repped by agents Matt Chazen and Jacy Schleier at CAA