Biography
Award-winning American filmmaker and thespian (writer/director/producer/actor) and founder/CEO of Painted Saint Entertainment, Kathleen Davison strives to honor her company motto:
Endeavor. Empower. Enlighten. Endure.
After completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater at Penn State University, Kathleen began writing, directing, and performing for stage and film in Chicago, where she also developed art therapy programming for at-risk youth. It was her work on David Schwimmer's directorial debut film, Since You've Been Gone, that inspired her to make the leap to the West Coast. Davison's film education continued on the sets of her industry heroes, including apprenticeships with Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Frank Darabont, Glen Morgan, and James Wong.
In her director/writer debut short film, Effloresce, Davison plays "Amelia," a woman who makes an unconventional lifestyle choice in her determination to prove that love is not disposable. The film garnered 23 festival accolades including Best Director, Best Original Short Screenplay, and Best Actress. It carries the distinction of being the last completed project in the life of legendary composer, Shirley Walker -- one of the most prolific female film composers and the first woman to receive solo composer credit on a studio feature film (Memoirs of an Invisible Man).
Kathleen made her directorial feature debut with Primrose Lane, also commanding the screenwriting and lead role. She plays "Robin," an atheist whose loved ones go missing through supernatural means, forcing the reluctant dismantling of her perception of reality. Little did she know, Davison was about to encounter a real-world mind bender. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor during post-production and met the challenge of undergoing major brain surgery while completing the film. The dark joke in post became, "What will be finished first, the film or the director?" Both the director and the film came out winning. Primrose Lane claimed over 40 festival accolades, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actress. Kathleen returned to the director's chair tumor-free, with a renewed determination to make a meaningful impact through media.
Davison made her foray into web series directing three episodes of Tech Bettys, which traveled the globe on an award-winning international festival tour, claiming Best Web Series, Best Director, Audience Awards, and a host of other accolade categories.
As a passenger in a bad car accident in 2019, Davison was delivered a second major life blow, followed by five years of rehab, surgeries, and the threat of blindness. During this harrowing chapter, she was completely removed from career and creating art, which she describes as a "soul detachment." She nestled herself in an East Coast hamlet tucked in rolling fields and forest and surrounded by nature, where her situation unexpectedly stabilized. In gratitude and desire to reconnect with life and art, she created the SEEK ... Story Matters theatre workshop series, which lifts community through the power of shared story, culminating in the creation of original stage plays. TELL ... surviving in shadows of secrets, marks the first of these, an intimate immersive theatre experience that navigates facing and surviving trauma, a unique addition to new and emerging theatre. The SEEK workshops continue to travel, stitching together portraits of culture and humanity via true stories brought to the stage and a growing anthology of original plays. Always the filmmaker, Davison is documenting the process, relishing communities creating together and bringing new works to the global stage.
Davison has a full slate of feature and television projects in development with Painted Saint Entertainment, defining her penchant for women's history and empowerment, psychological thrillers with paranormal twists, and themes that dig deep into the human psyche.
As a commercial director and copywriter, Kathleen is known for her innovative handling of sensitive subjects. From an entire cast attired in bubble wrap to illustrate the principles of sexual consent (ACLU's California Healthy Youth Act campaign) to the unique emotional needs of the developmentally disabled when receiving health care (We Care Dental), to the impact of disease on life's biggest moments (Hereditary Angioedema Association), Davison meets delicate matters with creative direction, which has earned her Bronze and Silver Telly awards and a Gold Aurora Award.
Kathleen is an avid spokesperson and festival panelist for women in film, gender parity, dispelling the myths which perpetuate ageism, and expanding diversity interests in media. She advances these missions through a number of affiliations, including having served as a founding board member of GreenLight Women, an organization devoted to the empowerment of industry women over 40; the Alliance of Women Directors, where she has also served on the board; and as an Outreach Representative for Actors' Equity Association, educating groups and organizations about union membership.
Davison hails from a small town in Pennsylvania, where she was a foster child who had no professional mentors or connections to Hollywood. Her life and career ambitions are a continuous example of defying statistical odds in a spirit she hopes to inspire in others. She incorporates interns, apprentices, and shadow directors on every production to pass on education through mentorship -- one of the greatest gifts of her own education.
Kathleen is bi-coastal (LA/NYC/Philly/Pitt/Greater DC). She enjoys raising two children and holds heart and home space for an additional "plus one" kid (the daughter of a dear departed friend). She is zookeeper to two dogs, a slightly sinister cat, and the occasional bird who falls out of the nest (and reminds her of herself).
Davison is a fellow of the Sundance Institute and a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), Actors' Equity Association (AEA), and the Dramatists Guild of America (DG).
22 wins and 29 nominations
