Her career as a filmmaker grew out of a background in fine art painting and illustration. An award-winning painter, she was studying for her masters degree in art at Claremont Graduate University when she was given the opportunity to create published archeological illustrations for several digs in Ireland. On a whim, she packed a few Super 8 Sound cameras and started documenting local teenagers. During these many months working abroad she realized that the large scale installation work she had previously created all focused on the motion picture genre, and began another graduate degree, this time in film at Loyola-Marymount University.
LMU’s program focused on narrative storytelling, but Kline found ways to build her skills as a documentary filmmaker. She wrote, produced, and directed narrative films “Alma” and “California Christmas”. During both, she interviewed actors in various contexts, then built a narrative structure from the dialogue.
Her documentary about nationally-recognized folk artist Chris Roberts- Antieau will be released December 1, 2010, and will be featured at Baltimore’s American Visionary Art Museum (www.avam.org). Kline is also at work on a new project due out summer of 2012.
