“Prettybird” is the production firm founded and led by Kerstin Emhoff (née Mackin, born March 18, 1967). The company’s films have won Grammys, Emmys, and Cannes Lions under her supervision, and in 2012, she received a News & Documentary Emmy Award for her own work. She chaired the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity’s “film craft” jury in 2020. It turned out that Douglas Emhoff was the man she ended up with after her divorce from him.
Kerstin Emhoff Career-
She travelled to Los Angeles after film school and “was quickly drawn into the world of short form” after landing a position at a tiny production business. At HSI Productions in 2002, Emhoff was a principal (and executive producer).
Paul Hunter, Hype Williams, and Diane Martel were among the HSI creatives of the day. Emhoff and director Paul Hunter co-founded Prettybird in 2007 after leaving HSI. Ad Age has selected Prettybird the 2015 Production Company of the Year for Creativity. – Ad Age
Prettybird’s CEO is Emhoff. The company’s films have received Grammys, Emmys, and Cannes Lions under her leadership, and in 2012, she was honoured with a News & Documentary Emmy Award.
Executive producer of the Primetime Emmy-winning Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden (2013) and the Emmy-winning The Tillman Story, she has also worked on several Emmy-winning documentaries and specials.
AKA Jane Roe, a 2020 documentary she produced, was also produced by her. During her time on the AICP board of directors, she served as the Western United States AICP President for over 10 years.
AICP’s “The Art & Technique of the American Commercial” was her brainchild for AICP’s annual display in 2015. To help young individuals from varied backgrounds get into the advertising industry, she launched the non-profit Pipelines in 2016.
With a goal of connecting organisations searching for varied talent with young individuals seeking careers in IT and entertainment, Pipelines plans to debut its mobile app in 2020.
For her work with Ava DuVernay, Mayor Eric Garcetti and other entertainment industry leaders, Emhoff was chosen to the Evolve Entertainment Fund (EEFinaugural )’s advisory council.
In the words of Billboard, “The EEF is a public-private partnership between the City of Los Angeles, industry leaders in entertainment and digital media, non-profit organisations and educational institutions that is dedicated to building career pathways into film, television and music for women, people of colour and low-income Angelenos through paid internships, focused mentoring and a continuous series of workshops and panels.”
In 2020, she co-founded Ventureland, a new multi-platform entertainment firm, with long-time colleague John Battsek, along with two of her Prettybird partners (Ali Brown and Paul Hunter).
Films will be made by Ventureland, a production company with offices in Los Angeles and London, as well as documentaries.
Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity’s “film craft” jury will have her as its president in 2020.
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Selected Filmography-
- The Tillman Story (2010), executive producer
- Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden (2013), executive producer
- Pretty Hurts (2013), Beyoncé music video, executive producer
- We Are the Giant (2014), executive producer
- Mojave (2015), associate producer
- XOXO (2016), executive producer
- The Monster (2016), co-producer
- We Are X (2016), executive producer
- The Final Year (2017), executive producer
- Legion of Brothers (2017), executive producer
- Ready for War (2019), producer
- AKA Jane Roe (2020), producer
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End Lines-
She is mostly of Swedish origin, having grown up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For 16 years after their divorce, she continued to use her ex-last husband’s name: Cole and Ella Emhoff. Emhoff’s ex-husband then married Kamala Harris, who was Emhoff’s ex-girlfriend.
It’s been said that Emhoff and Kamala Harris’s relationship as stepmothers has been “extremely healthy,” according to Emhoff’s two daughters.
Harris was sworn in as vice president of the United States by Emhoff at the inauguration of the next president of the United States in 2021.
