Kerstin Emhoff (née Mackin; born March 18, 1967) is an American film producer and founder and CEO of the production company Prettybird. Under her leadership the company's films have won

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s, and

Cannes Lions The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...

, while she personally won a News & Documentary Emmy Award in 2012. She was president of the "film craft" jury of the 2020

Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...

. Her former husband

Douglas Emhoff Douglas Craig Emhoff (born October 13, 1964) is an American lawyer who is the second gentleman of the United States. He is married to the 49th vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris. As the first-ever husband of a vice president, ...

later married

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

Career

After film school, Emhoff moved to Los Angeles, where she got a job at a small

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, a ...

and "was immediately hooked into the world of short form." By 2002, Emhoff was a principal (and executive producer) at HSI Productions. HSI creatives at that time included

Paul Hunter Paul Alan Hunter (14 October 1978 – 9 October 2006) was an English professional snooker player. He was a three-time Masters champion, winning the event in 2001, 2002, and 2004, recovering from a deficit in the final to win 10–9 on a ...

Hype Williams Harold Williams (born August 1, 1970) is an American music video director, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Early life Williams was born in Queens, New York. He is of mixed African-American and Honduran descent. He attended Ade ...

, and

Diane Martel Diane Martel (also known as Bucky Chrome) is an American music video director and choreographer. Awards Diane Martel was nominated for the Video of the Year for her work in "Blurred Lines" – Robin Thicke feat. Pharrell & T.I. in 2013. Fil ...

. In 2007, Emhoff together with director

left HSI to co-found the production company Prettybird.

Ad Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mu ...

named Prettybird as Creativity's 2015 Production Company of the Year. Emhoff is Prettybird's president. Under her leadership the company's films have won

s, and

, while she personally won a

News & Documentary Emmy Award The News & Documentary Emmy Awards, or News & Documentary Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts and Scien ...

in 2012. She was executive producer of '' Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden'' (2013), which won the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special The Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sci ...

; she has also produced Emmy Award-winning ''

The Tillman Story ''The Tillman Story'' is a 2010 American documentary film directed by Amir Bar-Lev and narrated by Josh Brolin. It is about the death of professional- football-player-turned- Army-Ranger Pat Tillman in the War in Afghanistan, the coverup of the ...

''. She was also producer of the 2020 documentary ''AKA Jane Roe''. She served on the board of directors of the

Association of Independent Commercial Producers The Association of Independent Commercial Producers, or AICP, is an American not for profit organization that represents the interests of United States companies that specialize in commercial production. Its members work in various media—film, v ...

(AICP) for over ten years, and was the AICP President for

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

. In 2015, she chaired the AICP annual show "The Art & Technique of the American Commercial." In 2016, she founded the non-profit Pipelines, a not-for-profit initiative to increase opportunities in advertising for diverse young people. In 2020, Pipelines is scheduled to launch its mobile app, designed to connect companies looking for diverse talent with young people looking for jobs in tech and entertainment. When

Ava DuVernay Ava Marie DuVernay (; born August 24, 1972) is an American filmmaker, television producer and former film publicist. She is a recipient of a Primetime Emmy Award, a NAACP Image Award, a BAFTA Film Award and a BAFTA TV Award, as well as a nomi ...

partnered with Los Angeles mayor

Eric Garcetti Eric Michael Garcetti (born February 4, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles from 2013 until 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected in the 2013 election, and reelected in 2017. A for ...

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

and others to set up the Evolve Entertainment Fund (EEF), Emhoff was named to its first Advisory Board. According to ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', "The EEF is a public-private partnership between the City of Los Angeles, industry leaders in entertainment and digital media, non-profit organizations and educational institutions which is dedicated to building career pathways into film, television and music for women, people of color and low-income Angelenos through paid internships, focused mentoring and an ongoing series of workshops and panels." In 2020, she joined with two of her partners at Prettybird (Ali Brown and

) to co-found Ventureland, a new multi-platform entertainment company, with long-time collaborator

John Battsek John Battsek is a British film producer of documentary films. Battsek co-founded Passion Pictures, a two-time Oscar-winning and four-time Oscar nominated independent production company. In 2020, Battsek departed Passion Pictures to launch cre ...

. Ventureland, based in Los Angeles and London, will produce both documentaries and scripted content. In 2020, she serves as president of the "film craft" jury of the

Personal life

She was raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has mainly Swedish ancestry. In 1992, she married

, with whom she has two children, Cole and

Ella Ella may refer to: * Ella (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Places United States * Ella, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Ella, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Ella, Pennsylvania, an unincorporat ...

. They divorced 16 years later. She chose to retain her married name, legally and professionally. Emhoff's ex-husband later married

. Kerstin Emhoff's two children have described the

coparenting Co-parenting is an enterprise undertaken by parents who together take on the socialization, care, and upbringing of children for whom they share equal responsibility. The co-parent relationship differs from an intimate relationship between adults ...

relationship between Emhoff and their stepmother, Kamala Harris, as, "very healthy". She attended the 2021 presidential inauguration, where Harris was sworn-in as

vice president of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice p ...

Selected filmography

* ''

'' (2010), executive producer * '' Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden'' (2013), executive producer * ''

Pretty Hurts "Pretty Hurts" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her eponymous fifth studio album (2013). It impacted mainstream radio in the United States on June 10, 2014, as the third single from the album. The song was written by Sia, ...

'' (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 ''We Are X'' is a 2016 documentary film about the Japanese rock band X Japan and its co-founder, drummer, pianist and leader Yoshiki. Directed by Stephen Kijak, it premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on January 23. The film covers the ...

'' (2016), executive producer * ''

The Final Year The Final Year is a 2017 American documentary film directed by Greg Barker. The film is a chronicle of the Barack Obama administration's foreign policy team and the events of Obama's final year in office. While President Obama features at cer ...

'' (2017), executive producer * ''Legion of Brothers'' (2017), executive producer * ''Ready for War'' (2019), producer * ''AKA Jane Roe'' (2020), producer

Awards

for Outstanding Informational Programming – Long Form (2012)

References

External links

*
"How PRETTYBIRD President & Co-Founder Kerstin Emhoff Has Built A Powerhouse ProdCo." (August 24, 2018)
Interview with

Jordan Brady Jordan Brady (born August 10, 1964) is an American director. He was a professional stand-up comic in the 1980s, and later played small roles in many TV shows including '' Baywatch'' and '' Who's the Boss''. Brady wrote and directed the feature f ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Emhoff, Kerstin 1967 births American women film producers American people of Swedish descent American Lutherans Businesspeople from Minneapolis News & Documentary Emmy Award winners Living people American women company founders American company founders American women chief executives American film studio executives 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople