Kristina Budelis
Kristina Budelis is an American filmmaker and entrepreneur. She is a co-founder of the camera-equipment rental marketplace KitSplit and a film director and executive producer whose work includes the short Tall Tales with True Queens and episodes of the PBS/NATURE digital series Untold Earth.
Early life and education
Budelis studied English and film at Barnard College of Columbia University. She later attended the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.Career
''The New Yorker''
Budelis worked as a producer in The New Yorkers video department, making short documentaries and multimedia pieces that were published on newyorker.com. While at NYU ITP, she worked on a "DroneBooth" project noted in reporting about so-called "dronies".KitSplit
In 2015, Budelis co-founded KitSplit, described by technology and trade outlets as an "Airbnb of cameras". In 2017, KitSplit acquired CameraLends, an acquisition covered by industry and business media. In 2018, KitSplit launched a free mentorship and coaching program connecting women in film and video with industry professionals for one-on-one sessions.Film work
Budelis co-directed and produced the short documentary Tall Tales with True Queens, an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival and the Meet the Press Film Festival at AFI Fest. It was also included in the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival program. The film received additional coverage from Condé Nast's Them and other outlets. She directed and produced an episode of the PBS/NATURE and Atlas Obscura series Untold Earth, titled "It Looks Like a Desert. But It Has Thousands of Lakes", which as of Nov 3rd was the most popular episode in the series on Youtube, having been viewed over 1.5 million times in under one week.Budelis also co-directed Cat-astrophe, published by The New Yorker.
Writing
Budelis has written pieces for The New Yorker, including "Barthes's Hand", "On and Off the Walls: Suburban Knights", and "Off the Shelf: Flying Pictures".Budelis also writes Film Robots, a substack newsletter about AI and film; in 2024, No Film School published a cross-post of her piece "Game-Changers and Missteps in AI in Documentary Film."