Diane C. Mackenzie
Director | Producer | Writer
I am a filmmaker/archivist and activist living and working in Santa Barbara,
CA. I have worn one or all of those hats since I was a teen.
My first career position was working under Patricia Montemayor for the County of Santa Barbara as the Government Access and Production Coordinator for South County. This was prior to any formal education in film production or film studies. That I began at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and then at UCSB in their Film and Media Studies Program.
My primary focus as a local filmmaker has been on artistic collaborations with other artists - in which we collaboratively create short documentary pieces telling stories about the artists and their work. I have worked primarily with Lit Moon Theater here in Santa Barbara. This collaboration began in 1994 and continued until 2005.
In 2005 my life as I knew it - stopped - I was living in an apartment that was riddled with toxic mold - I stopped being able to function enough to work and withdrew completely from life as I knew it. This led to my traveling down a road that I never expected to travel. I ultimately lost over 10 years of my life - until I was medically cleared - neurologically in December 2016.
I am in pre-production on my 1st documentary feature - “Are You Hearing Me?” It celebrates the stories of female artists who have survived sexual and physical trauma and how we incorporate and process the trauma within the body of our own work - thereby empowering ourselves and our communities. It is anchored on my own story of surviving a rape and physical assault in 2010.
As a lifelong activist I’m excited to jump headlong into the world of social justice documentary – bringing my own story and my love of telling stories about artists and their work into the mix.
In addition, I am a Film Archivist specializing in research and curation of images/content at UCSB Film and Media Studies that began in Spring 2017.
My Archival credits include:
January 2019 - Archivist for Film and Media Studies on Beyond the Spill: The History & Politics of Oil in California.
Summer 2020 - Archival Research - I’ll Be Gone In The Dark – Story Syndicate for HBO.