Ky Dickens

Ky Dickens is a filmmaker and writer, best known for her 2009 LGBT documentary Fish out of Water.

DIckens was born and raised in Hinsdale, Illinois. From an early age she always had a camera or camcorder around her neck and would edit footage together by using two VCR's, one to play the tapes and the other to record the edited version. She decided to devote her life to documentary film making at the age of 16 after a good friend died in car crash and she compiled past footage taken of him. In 2000 she graduated magna cum laude with majors in Human and Organizational Development and Sociology from Vanderbilt University.

Dickens' first feature film, Fish Out of Water, explores the seven Bible passages that are most used to condemn homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Dickens talked with ministers on both sides of the debate surrounding homosexuality and the Bible for the film. Fish out of Water is distributed nationally by First Run Features, and has been translated into Spanish, Russian, Haitian Creole and Italian. It was acquired by First Run Features in 2009, before it premiered at Outfest. For her 2013 documentary film Sole Survivor, Dickens contacted 10 of the world's 14 sole survivors of large plane crashes and featured four in the movie. The documentary follows George Lamson, one of fourteen sole survivors in a commuter plane crash. Her current project Zero Weeks is about maternity leave, and how the United States is the only developed country in the world that doesn't guarantee paid leave for women. She was a keynote speaker at the Houston Texas Annual Conference for Methodist Ministers in 2010. Dickens directed TV commercials at Chicago-based MK Film Group, whose client lists include Revlon and Neutrogena, Wendy’s, and Sears. As of 2015, she is a commercial director at Conspiracy.

Sole Survivor premiered at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival in 2013, and its New York premier was at DOC NYC in 2013. It was Indiewire’s project of the month in September 2012 and received the Best of the Midwest Award for “Best Feature Film” in November 2013. It was acquired by CNN Films for broadcast and theatrical worldwide distribution in August 2013, and premiered on the network in January 2014. In October of 2013, Dickens received the Focus Award for “Achievement in Directing” from Women in Film.

• Achievement in directing Focus Award
• Jury prize - Best Documentary, Show Me Justice International Film Festival
• Best Feature Film of 2013, Best of the Midwest Awards
• Jury Prize - Best Documentary, Reeling International Film Festival
• Audience Award, Louisville LGBT Film Festival
• Best of Fest Selection, DOC UTAH 2013
• Audience Award Runner Up, Tall Grass Film Festival
• Huffington Post - "Top 15 Films to Look Forward to in 2013"
• Filmmaker Magazine - "Top 10 Picks for the DOC NYC Film Festival"
• PBS POV - "Ten Films to Look Forward to in 2012"
• Indiewire - Project of the Month
• After Ellen Visibility Prize, Best Festival Release with a lesbian Character (runner-up)
• Audience Award, Louisville LGBT Film Festival
• Named to New City's "Film 50" List - The 50 artists shaping the film culture in Chicago

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• "Chicago Reader: The Wingnuts Had a Point". Retrieved 17 Oct 2014. 
• "Windy City Media Group: REELING FILM FEST 2009 Reeling in the 'Fish'". Retrieved 17 Oct 2014. 
• ^ "Zero Weeks: A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT AMERICA'S MATERNITY LEAVE CRISIS". Retrieved 17 Oct 2014. 
• "McHenry Count College: Online Press Room". Retrieved 17 Oct 2014. 
• "Huffington Post: Ky Dickens' 'Sole Survivor': Fundraiser Supports Local Filmmaker's New Documentary". Retrieved 17 Oct 2014. 
• "Film Maker Magazine: 10 Picks for the DOC NYC Film Festival". Retrieved 17 Oct 2014. 
• "Chicago3Media: Entertainment for the World". Retrieved 17 Oct 2014. 
• "Indiwire: Ky Dickens". Retrieved 17 Oct 2014.