Director, Producer

Karen received her B.F.A. in painting from Parson’s School of Design. She supported herself by selling her paintings on the streets of Soho and her murals have adorned walls of New York City Public schools and the now demolished 42nd Street Project. While working at Film/Video Arts, with access to video equipment, Karen began shooting a film of a fellow artist and friend that began a nine year shooting odyssey. “When I thought we had finished shooting, it turned out that it was just the very beginning”. The result was her first feature documentary, “BEGGING NAKED”.

“BEGGING NAKED” was awarded grants from the New York State Foundation of the Arts and the Ford Foundation, and was selected to be included in the permanent collection of The Library of Congress, a rare honor. It attracted the attention of the late Roger Ebert as well as Martin Scorsese. It continues to be broadcast internationally and is available on premier on demand video platforms such as iTunes and Amazon.Continuing her focus on quintessential NYC stories, Karen’s second feature documentary focuses on the legendary NYC barbershop, Astor Place Hairstylists. She is on-set most days as an EPK behind-the-scenes Producer for film and television, with credits including “Revolutionary Road”, “Young Adult”, “Win Win”, “Black Swan”, “Solitary Man” “Michael Clayton” and “Noah”.

Karen Gehres