KELLY ADAMS creative portfolio
About Me
Kelly Adams is a digital media professional specializing in documentary filmmaking and promotional videos. Her background in Anthropology and experience studying in the Culture & Media Program at NYU have formed the foundation of her approach to production. Kelly’s work is deeply rooted in principles of ethical representation, collaborative process, and a belief in the transformative power of video as a catalyst for social change. Kelly possesses a wealth of experience in various aspects of digital media production, including videography, editing, photography, and motion graphic design.
Over the past nine years, Kelly has been an integral part of the Lower Eastside Girls Club, where she assumes a multifaceted role. In addition to managing digital media programs and collaborative projects with youth, she is entrusted with the organization’s external-facing storytelling and brand representation. This role underscores her ability to inspire and mentor the next generation while ensuring that the organization’s mission and values are conveyed with authenticity and integrity.
Freelance clients include: Hermès, Partnership for Afterschool Education (PASE), Abrons Art Center, International Puppet Fringe Festival, The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center, We Make Noise, Say She She, Dorril Initiative, Salsa Stories, Soho Renaissance Factory, and more.
Kelly was the recipient of the 2023 BRIC B Free Award for Excellence in Community Media.
Lower Eastside Girls Club Promotional Video (2024)
For looping on screens at events, including 2024 Gala Concept, Videography, Editing
Videographer & Editor
International Puppet Fringe Festival
Documentary, 13 min.
Producer, Director, Videographer, Editor
This short film embarks into the mesmerizing world of puppetry, from its ancient traditions to the avant-garde art forms of today. The perspective is both globally-minded and distinctly rooted in the rich puppetry traditions of New York, particularly the vibrant immigrant communities of the Lower East Side. This film unfolds through the enchanting backdrop of the 2023 International Puppet Fringe Festival, a unique event honoring the legacy of puppetry icon, Ralph Lee.
This video was commissioned by the The Clemente Center, with the support of the Howard Gillman Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Oculus
Ad Campaign
Large Scale Motion Graphic Design
Lower Eastside Girls Club, 25th Anniversary Ad Campaign
This large-scale ad campaign was composed of 22 screens throughout the Oculus building in Downtown Manhattan. These screens ranged in size from 280 x 9 ft. to 5 x 71 ft. I was responsible for creating seamless motion graphic design across singular screens, and distinct panels that extended throughout hallways and elevator passages. I was also responsible for all exports, making sure that the videos met a variety of different specifications.
Awards & Recognition:
Winner, Festival of the Hunt at Anthology Film Archives, 2015
Screenings:
Margaret Mead Film Festival, 2015
Rooftop Films Summer Series, New York Non-Fiction, 2015
Nitehawk Shorts Film Festival, 2015
Museum of the City of New York, Special Event, 2015
City Reliquary Museum Collector's Night, 2015
Williamsburg Independent Film Festival, 2015
Lamakaan Cultural Space (Hyderabad, India) 2015
Smita Patil Film Festival (Pune, India) 2015
Inwood Film Festival, 2015
Harlem International Film Festival, 2016
New FilmMakers New York, Winter 2016 Series
Johns Hopkins Film Festival, 2016
Earth Month Celebration at Materials for the Arts, 2016
New York Independent Film Festival, 2016
Documentary, 16 min.
Producer, Director, Videographer, Editor
For 34 years, Nelson Molina has worked for the NYC Department of Sanitation, developing a unique relationship to the objects that fill the garbage bags lining the streets. With a keen curatorial eye for finding treasure in household trash, Nelson has created a collection of found objects in a sanitation garage in East Harlem, which he refers to as a museum of “Treasures in the Trash.” As the film follows Nelson on his route and through his collection, he encourages us to see the things that we encounter in daily life anew.
This film was produced in the Program in Culture & Media at NYU.
Gala Video, Lower Eastside Girls Club
Concept, Production, Editing
This full-page image is a still taken from one of three videos I created for the Lower Eastside Girls Club’s 2023 Gala, which had the theme of Radical Imagination. Through motion graphics and a collage aesthetic, I drew on the various textures of student work done at the Girls Club in a range of disciplines.
Please view the full video through the link in the upper right.
View Full Video Here
Atlantic Sunrise
Documentary, 5 min
Producer, Director, Videographer, Editor
The short documentary tells the story of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, a convent of Catholic nuns, as they resist a natural gas pipeline in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on the basis of their religious values.
Awards & Recognition:
Recipient of Rooftop Films / DCTV Filmmakers Grant (2019)
Grand Jury Award for Environmental Justice at Interfaith Film & Music Festival (2021)
Documentary Changemaker Scholarship Award from Actuality Media (2020)
Soho Renaissance Factory Documentary Title Sequence Editor
Soho Renaissance Factory describes themselves as “an artist collective and community outreach organization dedicated to revitalization through socially conscious art, local beautification and community outreach.” In 2020, as New York City was swept by a wave of protests calling for racial justice and an end to police brutality, many local businesses throughout the City boarded their windows with plywood. The artists of the Soho Renaissance Factory collective cultivated joy and community through beautifying the public space, creating artworks on these plywood boards. In 2021, some of these boards were showcased at the National Arts Club, in an exhibition called “Voices of the Soho Renaissance.” I edited this title sequence for a short film, intended to capture the story of these artists and the unique moment in history.
Partnership for After School Education
Afterschool Transforms Video for Gala
Video Production & Editing
This project was commissioned by Partnership for Afterschool Education (PASE) and highlights the work of the Staten Island Urban Center. The video was featured at the PASEsetter Awards Benefit in both 2023 and 2024.
Project Manager, Collaborative Community Project
Production & Editing, Instagram Recap Reel
“You Are Not Alone”
The Instagram recap reel that you see to the left documents the process of creating a community photography project that I managed. This project collaborated with a group of high school students to develop the theme “You Are Not Alone.” This initiative, inspired by the pandemic’s impact, explored topics of isolation, mental health, and the strength of the community. Together, we captured portraits and conducted interviews with community members, and the project culminated in a powerful public art installation on the facade of the Lower Eastside Girls Club. Our activation was part of the renowned photographer JR’s Inside Out Project, which empowers communities across the globe to highlight issues that are important to them through portraiture.
In Loving Memory
Participatory, Immersive Exhibit
Governor’s Island, 2023
In Loving Memory
A multimedia installation that invites people to reflect on the modes and mediums through which communication with spirit occurs. It explores the origins of the Spiritualist movement in mid-19th century New York and its relationship to progressive political movements of the time.
It is human impulse to crave communication with spirit, and to seek meaning in the transition from life to death. Messages from beyond sometimes appear through deeply personal and spontaneous signs and symbols. In the wake of great loss, we may find solace in the presence of a rainbow, or in recurrings sighting of white feathers, coins, butterflies or bluebirds.
This exhibition encourages participants to reflect on their own connection to spirit, through participatory elements as well as pinhole camera “spirit pnotography,” projection of “spirit photography” images, a soundscape featuring archival clips of Spiritualism seances, and a ceiling of white feathers creating an etheral atmosphere above you.
Thank You.