Kristy Andersen is a television veteran who received a degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Florida where she worked at the PBS station. She then launched her career at WTVT in Tampa, Florida working commercial production and live TV for five years. After working as a news editor and producer, she began to produce independent documentaries and longer-form pieces for museums and schools through her production company, Bay Bottom News. Her work from that time is still seen in Florida tourism venues.

Kristy’s film, Sea Turtles’ Last Dance, about the demise of the Kemps’ ridley turtle won a Southeast regional EMMY and was responsible for legislation that helped to focus attention on the turtles and protect them.

Her more recent work includes an 83-minute feature film about Zora Neale Hurston called Jump at the Sun on the PBS American Masters’ series. For that film, Kristy received grants from eight state Humanities councils, the Florida Arts council, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Southern Humanities Media Fund, the National Black Programming Consortium, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Ford Foundation.

Kristy is currently working on Architect of Jazz: Jelly Roll Morton , a film about Jelly Roll Morton, née Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, and his life devotion to the creation and production of jazz music.