[ABOUT]
Films and Experiences that turn your brand story into an intimate, cinematic artifact.
The Studio
KAT VANCLEAVE is a boutique creative practice devoted to couture-grade filmmaking and visual storytelling. We create films, editorial campaigns, experiential pop-ups an third spaces. Each detail is deliberate, each moment considered, and every choice guided by artistry. Rooted in world-building, fine art, and cinematic craft, our work blends the rigor of an architect with the visual poetry of a dancer, building experiences that are textured, intimate, and timeless.
Founded by Kat—filmmaker, production designer, painter, and performer—the studio partners with brands, cultural institutions, and indie filmmakers to elevate their storytelling, aesthetic clarity, and emotional resonance. Each project is approached as a bespoke collaboration, a space where ideas are shaped with care, imagination, and editorial precision. We believe films, like couture, should be crafted to endure, leaving a signature mark that lingers in memory long after the screen goes dark.
Kat VanCleave
These days, a lot of my time is spent in a film studio, but I’ve been a studio rat my whole life.
As a dancer, the studio meant perseverance, discipline and grace. This is where I fell in love with movement, the human body & our ability to transform a single gesture into a compelling story. This obsession bled naturally into the architectural studio, where I learned how to craft the built environments with tools like rhythm, form, shape, and color to articulate intimacy and narrative at the level of the human experience. It’s also where I was first introduced to Commedia Dell’Arte which, in retrospect, was one of the springboards that led to the soft spot for parody & satire that you’ll see in my screenplays & films today.
To date, I've helmed the designs of 40+ films including feature films, short films, TV pilots, web-series, music videos and branded content. I’ve had the esteemed honor to collaborate with industry leaders like John Cena, Jodie Turner Smith, Destry Allyn Spielberg, HBO, Apple, Google, NVIDIA, & Gensler to name a few. While moonlighting as an architectural designer in 2015, I spent 3 months in the Himalayas designing the primary residence for Their Majesties, The King & Queen of Bhutan. I know, real life #queenstatus
But my first real teacher was Mama Earth. As a Colorado kid, the mountains taught me the power of scale, the magical quality of light as it kisses the horizon & the most delicious shade of powdery white snow. It made me feel tiny but a part of something big. It made me hungry for adventure, taught me how to play hard & gifted me with a certain fearlessness of getting my hands dirty. Nature also wedged me smack dab in the middle of my family. A true middle child, I have a knack for finding connection where there’s friction, I am a seasoned negotiator & an invested collaborator from the jump.
I’m nothing if not in motion & I invite you to share the next dance…
Let’s get creative together
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