In this episode, we will explore the life of Cris Graves, a producer, director, writer, editor, and podcaster. She is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker for The Amazing Race. She’s spent much of her time as a producer on reality TV shows like Made In Mexico, Living Undocumented, Deadly Cults, and Breaking Big, among others. She also has found time in her busy schedule to fit in directing four short films, of which she was the writer of three of them. And is now working on her first feature, Alone Girl, which was a semi-finalist in three categories of the Austin Film Festival Screenplay competition in 2019. She was chosen as one of 25 screenwriters to watch by the Austin Film Festival.
I’m an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker who has worked across platforms from film to television to online content. My work has spanned the globe as a producer/director, filming in some of our planet's harshest and most remote areas. My credits include The Amazing Race, Whale Wars, and Living Undocumented. I’m also an award-winning narrative filmmaker, and my projects have been screened in various film festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival, Oaxaca Film Festival, and Hamilton Film Festival, to name a few. My feature film script ALONE GIRL was a semi-finalist in three categories of the Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition 2019, as well as earning a spot on The Bitch List 2020 and it was in the top 10% of the 2020 Nicholl Fellowship. Also, in 2020, I was chosen as one of 25 screenwriters to watch by the Austin Film Festival. Most recently, I’ve launched a podcast called Blissful Spinster that is documenting my journey as I hustle to get Alone Girl made and can be found anywhere pods stream.
On a more personal note, I’m the youngest of six and a proud Gen-Xer born in 1970 in New Hampshire but soon found myself being moved to Mexico City, Mexico, at the tender age of one, where I lived until I was almost 19. This makes me what some term a “third culture kid”… it also means I never quite feel like I fit in… no matter where I am, I’m a perpetual fish out of the water, and I love it. It means I’m in a constant state of learning and curiosity… and that is a beautiful place to be. Now that I’m a certain age, I’ve turned my curiosity inward. I’m writing scripts to direct that explore how I, a single woman in her 50s (with cats!) fit in the world made to disregard our place in society… don’t worry, I make comedies! I live in Los Angeles with my three cats – Jack, Bobby & Chadwick Pawsman.
