Women Behind the Scenes Spotlight: Kari Skogland

Today’s Women Behind the Scenes spotlight is shone on producer, screenwriter and director Kari Skogland, who was born in Ottawa, Ontario. She got her start directing award-winning TV commercials and music videos then moved into directing TV shows, starting with the short-lived 1994 MTV series Dead at 21 and then the long-running Canadian series Traders.

Kari took her first leap into feature films in the form of directing the 1996 movie The Size of Watermelons, which starred Paul Rudd, Donal Logue and Ione Skye. From that point on until last year, she has directed episodes of TV shows such as La Femme Nikita, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Family Law, Queer as Folk, The L Word, Terminal City, The Listener, Endgame, Being Erica, Boardwalk Empire and Vikings.

Among the films she has directed include White Lies in 1998 that starred Sarah Polley and Lynn Redgrave; Liberty Stands Still in 2002 with Wesley Snipes and Linda Fiorentino, a movie she also wrote; The Stone Angel in 2007 that starred Ellen Page, Kevin Zegers and Ellen Burystn, she wrote this one too based on the novel by Margaret Laurence and Fifty Dead Men Walking in 2008, which starred Sir Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess and Rose McGowan. Kari wrote this movie too inspired by the book written by Martin McGartland and Nicholas Davies.

She also directed the following mini-series and made-for-TV movies: The Courage of Love in 2000 that starred Vanessa Williams and Gil Bellows; Zebra Lounge in 2001, which starred Kristy Swanson, Stephen Baldwin and Cameron Daddo; Riverworld in 2003 that starred Brad Johnson and Emily Lloyd; Rapid Fire in 2006, which starred David Cubitt, Kristin Lehman and Jessica Steen; Banshee in 2006 that starred Taryn Manning and Sons of Liberty from this year, which starred Ben Barnes, Marton Csokas, Ryan Eggold, Henry Thomas, Michael Raymond-James, Rafe Spall, Jason O’Mara and Dean Norris.

Kari’s work on the film Liberty Stands Still got her onto the “Ten Directors to Watch” list at The Hollywood Reporter.

Kari can be followed on Facebook and at Twitter @kariskogland.