LINDSAY KEYS

About Me

I was raised in a rural farm town, Salem, New York (pop. 1,000) where at an early age, the visual arts (and renting movies) became my escape from the mundane. In high school, I decided I would orient my life toward cameras. Why? I couldn’t say. It was a hunch, or maybe it’s in my DNA. My paternal grandfather, Sonny, was a blue-collar worker who always had a camera in his hands. Only after his death did I realize he was a photographer with an extraordinary eye.

I received my Bachelor’s in Studio Art at Wesleyan University, which is where I discovered both the darkroom and the world of filmmaking. Upon graduating in 2011, I moved to New York City to freelance in photography and film production. Scripts of my own started to take shape, and I even acted in a couple films, then my health unraveled due to years of undiagnosed Lyme and tick-borne diseases.

In the fall of 2015, I met another filmmaker in the same situation—Winslow Crane-Murdoch—through a chance encounter at a local doctor’s office. While navigating debilitating symptoms and medical treatment, we co-directed a feature documentary, The Quiet Epidemic, in association with the legendary Pennebaker Hegedus Films, who we met through yet another chance encounter.

Following the The Quiet Epidemic’s festival circuit, theatrical run and VOD release (2022-2023), I led the film’s impact campaign, which culminated in an expert panel discussion and special presentation of the film hosted by Senator Richard Blumenthal at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center in the fall of 2024. You can watch The Quiet Epidemic and learn more about the film and impact campaign.

After dedicating 1/4 of my life to The Quiet Epidemic, people are asking—what’s next?

Writing is one of my greatest passions, and my desire to write screenplays never went away (I am currently developing a few of them). I host a virtual writing container called Pressure Release, to hold space for others who want to develop a writing practice (whether professionally, for fun, and/or for healing).

I still appreciate any opportunity to pick up my still cameras. I am most passionate about shooting documentary and portrait photography on film. For the right project, I will pull out my cameras.