Citygate Films
Good stories spark change.

About

We are hard-wired to appreciate and remember good stories. Stories create empathy and provide perspective. In a world where attention is the new currency, a powerful story cuts through the clutter.

Citygate Films is headed by director/writer/editor Carolyn McCulley.

Citygate Films is headed by director/writer/editor Carolyn McCulley.

I started Citygate Films in 2009 and since then, I've directed, produced and edited more than 200 short films and podcast episodes for clients, while also working on my own film and podcast projects.

My latest film is THE RAGE OF EVIL: THOUGHTS FROM A FORMER SCHOOL SHOOTER, which RYOT Films acquired for its streaming partnership with HuffPost. It was supported by the Points North Institute’s Shortform Editing Residency and then screened at several festivals, including the Austin Film Festival, and won two jury awards from the DC Shorts International Film Festival.

I also served as the producer and editor for the short documentaries supporting the narrative film, MISS VIRGINIA (BET/Netflix), starring Uzo Aduba.

Citygate Films has worked with VICE, Discovery, WebMD, AstraZeneca, Chick-Fil-A, Capital One, International Justice Mission and numerous nonprofits. My most widely viewed short film has been seen by more than six million people and was the inspiration for a segment in Oprah's BELIEF series. I have also participated in artist development programs with the Points North Institute and the Moving Picture Institute (Documentary Directing, Screenwriting, Editing and Narrative Directing programs), as well as Women in Film & Video and the DOC NYC Only in New York roundtable. In 2018, I was a recipient of the Strauss Artist Grant from ARTSFAIRFAX.

Over the years, I've also worked with other directors. I collaborated with director Daniele Anastasion as an associate producer on her short film, THE PRICE OF CERTAINTY, which was featured in the New York Times Op-Docs series and at AFI Docs. More recently, I served as an editor on THE PERFECT ONE, a narrative short film from writer/director Matthew Szewczyk, and as an editor for the forthcoming feature documentary, FIRE DEPARTMENT, INC., from director Colin C. Hughes.

My love for story means I'm comfortable working in many formats. I'm also an author of three books and hundreds of articles in publications like The Washington Post and Baltimore Sun. In the last few years, I've added podcast producer and editor in collaboration with the talented team at Twenty Thousand Hertz, as well as my own hosted limited series, The Courage to Face Failure. My newest podcast series, Noisy Skies, just launched and looks at the complex issues around intrusive aviation noise.

Wearing various hats as a producer/director/writer/editor, I work with a fantastic group of collaborators across the nation to develop the right look and sound for each project. I'm just as excited about inspiring people through "show and tell" as I was the first day I discovered the power of story in kindergarten.