Kat Coiro
Sundance Advisor //Director and producer, Kat Coiro, continues to be at the forefront of the industry with her unique and thoughtful filmmaking style. 2022 was a big year with Coiro’s studio directorial debut MARRY ME dominating the Valentine’s Day Box office and SHE-HULK, which she directed and executive produced for Marvel Studios, smashing the summer streaming records.
Coiro gained much of her experience writing, producing and directing shorts and indie features including “AND WHILE WE WERE HERE which received glowing reviews and was nominated for ‘Best Feature’ at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival.
On the television side, Coiro directed and co-executive produced the pilot episode of Tina Fey’s GIRLS 5EVA for Peacock. Additional television directorial credits include the pilot episode of FLORIDA GIRLS on Roku, Netflix's DEAD TO ME, ShowTime's SHAMELESS" and FX's: IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILIDELPHIA, as well as THE MICK, MODERN FAMILY, BROOKLYN 99, MOZART IN THE JUNGLE and more. She is currently in post production as director/executive producer on CBS’ reboot of MATLOCK starring Kathy Bates, slated for a 2023 release and on The SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES for Disney+, which is set to come out in 2024.
As an activist Kat is passionate about denormalizing the use of single-use plastic and waste on screen through her fast-growing initiative #LightsCameraPlastic. MARRY ME, SHE HULK, SPIDERWICK, and MATLOCK all boast substantial reusables and very little unnecessary waste on camera, with the aim of influencing audiences to make more ecological choices. She is on the board of Habits Of Waste (responsible for CutOutCutlery). She recently met with multiple studios and the DGA to try to bring other creators into the fold. Her colleague Mark Ruffalo has joined the cause as well and brought enormous visibility to #LightsCameraPlastic. Additionally, Coiro has also been working closely with the Wet’Suwet’En indigenous land and water protectors in Northern BC in their fight against the illegal CGL gas pipeline, that threatens the sacred Wedzin Kwa River. She recently secured a donation of winter gear from Patagonia to outfit these modern day warriors.
Coiro studied theatre and film at Carnegie Mellon, AFI and the Moscow Art Theater in Russia where she also studied Russian History and Literature, and she currently teaches at Interlochen Center for the Arts.