KRISTI ZEA
Kristi Zea is an acclaimed Production Designer, Costume Designer & Producer for dozens of feature films for over thirty years.
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PRODUCTION DESIGN
She production designed Martin Scorsese’s films New York Stories (1989), Goodfellas (Academy Award Winner 1990), and The Departed (Academy Award Winner 2006); Jonathan Demme’s films Married to the Mob (1988), Beloved (1998), The Silence of the Lambs (Academy Award Winner 1991), Philadelphia (Academy Award Winner 1993), Manchurian Candidate (2004), and Barry Levinson’s Sleepers (1996).
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Later, Zea production designed Brett Ratner’s Red Dragon (2002) and Roger Michelle’s Changing Lanes (2002), as well as Neil Jordan’s
The Brave One (2007). Her production design for Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road (2008) was nominated for an Oscar. Over the next four years, she was production designer for Kasi Lemmons’ Black Nativity (2013) as well as Nancy Meyers' The Intern (2015) and independent film The Comedian (2016) both starring Robert DeNiro.
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Kristi Zea was part of NBC’s drama New Amsterdam from its beginning in 2018 serving as production designer for the pilot and 11 additional episodes. She was production designer for three episodes of Netflix The Watcher (2022).
She has won acclaim for her production design for Daddio (in theaters June 28, 2024) directed by Christy Hall starring Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson.
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COSTUME DESIGN
Additional credits include costume design for Alan Parker’s Fame (1980), Shoot the Moon (1982), and Birdy (1984), as well as James L. Brooks’ Terms of Endearment (1983) and Larry Kasdan’s Silverado (1985).
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PRODUCER
Zea produced James L. Brooks’ Broadcast News (1987) and produced
As Good As It Gets (1997) which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. She also produced and designed the independent film
The Joneses (2009) starring Demi Moore and David Duchovny.
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DIRECTOR
For NBC’s New Amsterdam (2018), she directed "Five Miles West" (Season 1, Episode 18) and “Lift Off” (Season 2, Episode 17). Zea also directed HBO’s Critic’s Choice-nominated Notes from the Field (2018) starring Anna Deavere Smith which is available on HBO Max.
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Zea produced and directed the documentary Everybody Knows…Elizabeth Murray which had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016. She then produced and directed Talking Pictures, ekphrastic poet Bob Holman's loving tribute to his wife Elizabeth Murray. Both films can be streamed from Kino Now​.
(updated 2024)
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Lisa Levart | LUSH Photography
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