Originally from Dayton, Ohio, Karri O’Reilly has been involved with over a hundred features, short films, commercials, and television programs during her over twenty years in the entertainment industry.
Karri received her degree in Motion Picture Production from Wright State University, and worked on several feature films in Ohio and as an associate news producer for the local ABC affiliate before moving to Los Angeles in 1995. In LA, she jumped back into film production, working on such films as BOOGIE NIGHTS, WEDDING CRASHERS, and LEGION.
Most recently, Karri produced the Ethan Hawke directed WILDCAT starring Maya Hawke, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson and Steve Zahn, which premiered at the 2023 Telluride and TIFF film festivals. She has provided support services on the new Luca Guadagnino and Jennifer Kent projects, and managed the US portion of the Netflix feature NO ONE GETS OUT ALIVE as the pandemic slammed worldwide production to a halt. Karri produced the 2020 release THE BIG UGLY (Vinnie Jones, Ron Perlman and Malcolm McDowell) in Kentucky, which The Chicago Sun-Times named as one of the top films of the summer, and Co-Produced the Hallmark Hall of Fame A CHRISTMAS LOVE STORY starring Kristin Chenoweth and Scott Wolf. 2018 saw the premieres of two films Karri co-produced - Tim Sutton's DONNYBROOK (2018 TIFF premiere and 2018 Fantastic Fest Best Picture) starring Jamie Bell, Frank Grillo, Margaret Qualley and James Badge Dale for Rumble Films, and Melanie Laurent's GALVESTON (2018 SXSW premiere) starring Ben Foster, Elle Fanning and Beau Bridges for Low Spark Films. 2017 saw the TIFF premiere MY DAYS OF MERCY, starring Ellen Page and Kate Mara, which she executive produced for Killer Films.
Other recent works include co-producing GOAT, starring Ben Schnetzer, Nick Jonas and James Franco (a Sundance 2016 selection), producing Mariah Carey’s directorial debut A CHRISTMAS MELODY for Hallmark, and serving as UPM on the critically acclaimed and Oscar and Golden Globe nominated Todd Haynes film CAROL, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. She also production supervised the Ohio unit for Ron Howard's upcoming Netflix film HILLBILLY ELEGY, as well as the Summer Unit for Todd Haynes' DARK WATERS, again for Killer Films.
Karri produced the Warner Brothers release THE PHILLY KID, co-produced the Lionsgate releases HUSK and FERTILE GROUND, the Sony release LINEWATCH starring Cuba Gooding Jr., and co-produced the 3-D feature THE DARK COUNTRY, directed by and starring Thomas Jane, also for Sony. She produced the Romania-lensed, UK-posted PUMPKINHEAD: ASHES TO ASHES and PUMPKINHEAD: BLOOD FEUD, horror features which aired on Sci-Fi Channel and which were released on DVD by Sony. She also has handled off the radar pickups and second units for several high profile features.
Some of her work outside feature films includes production managing a 70mm music video directed by Vincent Gallo for the Sony Japan group L’Arc-en-Ciel, and wrangling the 120 foot inflatable brassiere that took over the San Fernando Valley for a Japanese department store commercial. She also has worked in various capacities for commercial clients such as White Castle, Chris Stapleton/RAM Trucks, Apple, Harley Davidson, Fazoli’s, Donatos Pizza, and Visa, and has taught film budgeting/scheduling at the college level.
An expert on the practical applications of international and domestic film tax incentives, she lobbied extensively and gave proponent testimony at the Ohio Senate Ways and Means Committee several times for the Ohio Film Tax Credit, which became part of the State of Ohio Budget in 2009 and which has helped bring millions of dollars of film activity into the state. Karri has very successfully handled the rebate preparations for numerous films utilizing incentive programs throughout the US and internationally. Her ability to present clear and complete backup of production costs has earned her a great reputation and high praise from state auditors and producers alike.
Karri is a member of the Producers Guild of America, a financial core member of the Directors Guild of America, and Mensa member. She is represented for feature work by APA.
After many years in Los Angeles, she now lives in Dayton, Ohio with her ten-year old son Donovan, and their dachshund Ollie.