Rachel Kessler is a Brooklyn-based director, screenwriter, and producer with over a decade of experience in film, TV, branded and digital media. Rachel uses her talent for finding the heart of any story to create cinematic work for clients including Netflix, Hulu, Hyundai, Bloomberg Media, Them Magazine, NYC Department of Education, and more. Her short documentary Tuning René Marie, about the early life of GRAMMY-nominated jazz vocalist René Marie, premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Woodstock Film Festival in 2022 where it was nominated for Best Short Documentary, won the Programmer's Award at Virginia Film Festival, and had its NYC premier at DOC NYC. She most recently worked at the production company honto88 as Executive Producer & Director.
Originally from Atlanta, Rachel studied history at Williams College with a concentration in the History of Liberty in the United States. Rachel was named one of AIR Serenbe’s Independent Fellows in 2021 for the feature length script she is writing titled DreamPark — a data heist set in a near future with a binary caste system of cyborgs and humans.
Email: rchlksslr@gmail.com
Press
BronxNet - Open Monday
Fauquier Now - Music for the Soul
Warrenton Lifestyle Magazine - May 2023 issue
WGBO - ‘Pain plus wisdom equals beauty’: The story behind the animated short film 'Tuning René Marie'
Sisterhood Media TV - in conversation with Rachel Kessler about Juice
Williams - How did you get there? Filmmaker Rachel Kessler