Kristina Budelis

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Kristina Budelis
Kristina Budelis.jpg
Alma materBarnard College of Columbia University; New York University Tisch School of the Arts (ITP)
Occupation(s)Filmmaker, entrepreneur
Known forCo-founding KitSplit; short documentary Tall Tales with True Queens
Website https://www.kristinabudelis.com/

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. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Budelis studied English and film at Barnard College [5] of Columbia University. She later attended the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. [6]

Career

The New Yorker

Budelis worked as a producer in The New Yorker 's video department, making short documentaries and multimedia pieces that were published on newyorker.com. [7] [8] While at NYU ITP, she worked on a "DroneBooth" project noted in reporting about so-called "dronies". [9]

KitSplit

In 2015, Budelis co-founded KitSplit, described by technology and trade outlets as an "Airbnb of cameras". [10] [11] In 2017, KitSplit acquired CameraLends, an acquisition covered by industry and business media. [12] [13] In 2018, KitSplit launched a free mentorship and coaching program connecting women in film and video with industry professionals for one-on-one sessions. [14] [15]

Film work

Budelis co-directed and produced the short documentary Tall Tales with True Queens, an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival (2020) and the Meet the Press Film Festival at AFI Fest (2020). [2] [16] It was also included in the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival program. [17] The film received additional coverage from Condé Nast's Them and other outlets. [18] [19] 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" (Season 2), 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. [20]

Budelis also co-directed Cat-astrophe (2021), published by The New Yorker. [21]

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". [22] [23] [24]

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." [25]

Recognition

In 2015, Budelis was selected for the inaugural ONA–Poynter Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Media. [26] [27] In 2017, she was named to Forbes 's 30 Under 30 list in the Media category. [1] [28] She is also credited among recipients in the 70th Pictures of the Year International competition. [29]

Selected filmography

References

  1. 1 2 "Kristina Budelis – 30 Under 30 2017: Media". Forbes. 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 "Tall Tales with True Queens". Tribeca Festival. 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  3. 1 2 "This Bay Moves 100 Billion Tons of Water Every Day". PBS. August 19, 2025. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Untold Earth". PBS. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Columbia Lands 11 on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List". Columbia Entrepreneurship. January 9, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  6. ↑ "Kristina Budelis – ONA Community Profile". Online News Association. June 7, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Video: Watching K-Pop". The New Yorker. October 4, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2025. Video by Kristina Budelis and Peter Moskowitz.
  8. ↑ "Video: Basil Twist Discusses Puppetry". The New Yorker. April 25, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2025. Video by Kristina Budelis and Myles Kane.
  9. ↑ Ungerleider, Neal (May 21, 2014). "Forget Selfies, Here Come "Dronies" (Yes, It Means What You Think)". Fast Company. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  10. ↑ Adamczyk, Alicia (March 6, 2015). "Rent-a-Drone: Creatives Can Rent Oculus Rift, Google Glass And More Through KitSplit". Forbes. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  11. ↑ "KitSplit is a peer-to-peer rental service for camera equipment". DPReview. June 14, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  12. ↑ Sportelli, Natalie (January 10, 2017). "KitSplit Acquires CameraLends Becoming Biggest Online Camera Rental Company". Forbes. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  13. ↑ "KitSplit acquires CameraLends, becomes largest peer-to-peer camera rental platform". DPReview. January 10, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  14. ↑ Ottke, Adam (October 5, 2018). "KitSplit Launches Free Mentorship Program to Get More Women Into Film". Fstoppers. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  15. ↑ "KitSplit launches a free coaching sessions for women in film & video". Newsshooter. October 5, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  16. ↑ "TALL TALES WITH TRUE QUEENS – Meet the Press Film Festival at AFI FEST". AFI FEST. October 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  17. ↑ "Tall Tales with True Queens (program page)". HSDFF 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  18. ↑ "Watch a New Short Film that Captures the Magic of Drag Queen Story Hour". Them. July 21, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  19. ↑ Kleinmann, James (May 6, 2020). "Film Review: Tall Tales with True Queens". The Queer Review. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  20. ↑ Untold Earth: It Looks Like a Desert. But It Has Thousands of Lakes (Television episode). Untold Earth. PBS Terra (YouTube). 2025. Retrieved October 29, 2025. Director credit appears in the on-screen end titles.
  21. 1 2 "The Anguish of the Feline Webcam Filter". The New Yorker. March 25, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  22. ↑ Budelis, Kristina (September 8, 2010). "Barthes's Hand". The New Yorker. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  23. ↑ Budelis, Kristina (July 27, 2010). "On and Off the Walls: Suburban Knights". The New Yorker. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  24. ↑ Budelis, Kristina (August 11, 2010). "Off the Shelf: Flying Pictures". The New Yorker. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  25. ↑ "Game-Changers and Missteps in AI in Documentary Film". No Film School. May 23, 2024. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  26. ↑ "ONA, Poynter Announce First Class of 25 for Women's Leadership Academy". Online News Association. March 10, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  27. ↑ "Poynter, ONA announce participants in digital leadership academy". The Poynter Institute. March 10, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  28. ↑ "30 Under 30 2017: Media". Forbes. January 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  29. ↑ "Feature Multimedia Story – Winners". Pictures of the Year International. 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  30. ↑ "TALL TALES WITH TRUE QUEENS – AFI FEST". AFI FEST. October 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  31. ↑ This Bay Moves 100 Billion Tons of Water Every Day (Television episode). Untold Earth. PBS. August 19, 2025. Retrieved October 13, 2025. Executive producer credit appears in on-screen end titles.
  32. ↑ Untold Earth: It Looks Like a Desert. But It Has Thousands of Lakes (Television episode). Untold Earth. PBS Terra (YouTube). 2025. Retrieved October 29, 2025. Director credit appears in the on-screen end titles.
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