Karen Kelly
agent: Camilla Chiverton - camilla@sternwild.com
Karen Kelly is a creatively ambitious and highly experienced showrunner with a distinctive track record across premium factual television as well as scripted giving her a unique set of skills she carries through both genres. With over 50 hours of prime-time credits for UK and international broadcasters, her work spans ambitious feature documentaries like Flight 149 Hostage of War for Sky, and complex hybrid formats such as Netflix’s Blood, Sex & Royalty. Karen brings a clear vision, editorial rigour and narrative flair to every project she leads.
Calm under pressure and highly resourceful, she has filmed all over the world in demanding environments—whether building large-scale period sets, integrating complex cutting edge VFX and physical effects, navigated geopolitical storylines and maintained access in extraordinarily difficult situations. She is known for solving problems before they surface, leading teams with clarity and care, and always pushing for work that is emotionally engaged, visually striking, and meaningful. Her background at Channel 4 as an executive producer gives her insight into the commissioning process and a sharp commercial instinct that underpins her storytelling.
Karen is passionate about the people she works with—on both sides of the camera. She’s an advocate for creative talent, a mentor to emerging voices, and a collaborative leader who believes the strongest work comes from environments rooted in trust, integrity and ambition. She is currently Chair of the Board at Directors UK and led the WFTV mentor programme in Scotland. She has also just completed a Fellowship in Virtual Production with Final Pixel having always been at the forefront of using the very latest tools in the box VFX, believing in the value of focused on the future of storytelling as she is on delivering exceptional work in the present.