NYWIFT Blog

By Nicolette Page

Welcome to NYWIFT, Kasey O’Brien!

Kasey O’Brien (she/they) is a queer-identifying filmmaker based in Queens, working across both fictional narratives and documentaries. While she has dabbled in various positions in film production (including acting, writing, camera operation, and post-production), she is most at home directing and producing.

Kasey was integral to the launch of NYU Tisch’s Master‘s in Virtual Production at the Martin Scorsese Virtual Production Center, whose inaugural cohort graduated in May 2025. She serves on the board of directors of PANO Network and is a founding member of The Garret Theatre Company. MFA from The New School. 

In our interview, Kasey discussed her journey to working in independent film production. 

NYWIFT Member Kasey O’Brien

What brought you to NYWIFT?

I serve on the Board of Directors of PANO Network, which has recently shuttered after 10 years of impact. While the PANO community will be a part of my life forever, I’m excited to work with a new organization that shares my commitment to fighting for gender parity in the media landscape.

You describe your creative path as starting in a “mildewy community theatre in Coeur d’Alene” — that’s such a vivid image. What was it about those early experiences that set you on this lifelong creative journey?

Growing up rural and queer is central to my coming-of-age experience. The small community theatre in a neighboring town was a sanctuary where I found my voice through storytelling. The origin of all my creative work roots back to that theatre, where I learned that the only limits to an artistic practice are self-imposed, not circumstantial. Through these early, formative experiences, I learned to feed my imagination and crack through the limited worldview on offer in my small town.

NYWIFT Member Kasey O’Brien

You’ve worn so many hats — actor, writer, director, producer, AD, and more. What have you learned from moving between those roles?

When a world-class chef trains for the job, they learn every station in the kitchen. They know exactly what they are asking of their team when the pressure is high and the work is demanding. First-hand experience is the best teacher. Swinging between acting and directing has immeasurably sharpened my approach to each respective role. 

It‘s been a gift to go from an ego-driven actor eager to steal the show to a tradesperson filling a role on set like everyone else. I approach acting with greater simplicity now, understanding that I am one piece of a much larger machine. As a director, I intimately understand how actors work and how to support them fully in a process where they can often feel overlooked. I understand the vulnerability, the stakes, and the trust required to deliver excellent work, and I build sets where that understanding is foundational.

I am energized by learning new roles and deepening my fluency in the many moving parts that work together to create a finished film.

What drew you to film as a medium — and how do your theater roots still influence the way you direct and produce?

In theatre, the moment lives and dies in real time. Film, by contrast, offers the luxury of multiple takes for refinement and experimentation in pursuit of bottling lightning. This creative control allows for a different kind of precision than theatre, where the goal is to rehearse a bulletproofed structure that can deliver consistency eight times a week.

What theatre gave me, and what continues to guide my work in film, is an unwavering commitment to story as the north star. No matter the medium, the work only succeeds when every decision is made in service of the story being told. I don’t believe either format can truly begin a new process until there’s clarity around vision and purpose. 

NYWIFT Member Kasey O’Brien

You’ve worked on many indie productions. What do you think are the biggest advantages and challenges of creating independently?

Creating independently certainly comes with its constraints, but working within those constraints presents an exciting challenge. At its best, the indie world is purpose-driven, highly creative, and an excellent place to form lifelong collaborations.

Many of your projects engage with social and human themes — climate crisis, disability, identity. What drives you toward those kinds of stories?

I‘m drawn to stories that are willing to grapple with complexity and clarify the issues that throw us most out of alignment as a human community. It’s interesting to me that the climate is undeniably at a crisis point. Instead of throwing all of our collective weight behind the actions needed to make necessary change, the topic has been politicized to the point of paralysis. We are the only species on the planet that is creating our own destruction.

Our narratives guide how we perceive the world around us and our human part in it. Film is an impactful medium and has the capacity to shift our perceptions and change minds. That marriage between creativity and consequence is a guiding force in my professional life.

NYWIFT Member Kasey O’Brien

How has teaching or supporting film students influenced your own artistic growth?

Supporting students is a wonderful way to give back and get inspired. Film school should serve as a playground for ideas that exist outside of the pressures of the industry.

NYWIFT Member Kasey O’Brien

Looking ahead, what are you excited to explore next in your career journey?

I’m looking forward to finishing production on my documentary and finally moving on to the edit!

Learn more about Kasey O’Brien via her website kaseyobriennyc.com and follow her on Instagram at @kaseyobs. 

(All photos courtesy of Kasey O’Brien)