Kris Williams (filmmaker)

This article is about the filmmaker/actress. For the Ghost Hunters cast member, see Kris Williams (investigator).
Kris Williams
Born Kristin Williams
November 11, 1980
United States
Occupation Filmmaker
Spouse(s) Joe Swanberg (2007-present)[1]

Kristin "Kris" Williams Swanberg (born November 11, 1980) is an American businesswoman, filmmaker, actress and former high school teacher living in Chicago, Illinois. She is best known for her work with her husband, Joe Swanberg, on the independent digital feature film Kissing on the Mouth (2005), in which she starred as Laura, and on the Nerve.com web series, Young American Bodies, in which she stars as Dia. Her personal projects include the short documentary "Bathwater" (2006) and the Nerve.com documentary web series "Boys and Girls". In 2005, she coordinated The Future Filmmakers Festival, which showcases work from filmmakers under the age of 21. She is credited variously as both Kris Williams and Kris Swanberg.

Swanberg earned a bachelor's degree in Film Production from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and earned a Master's in Education from DePaul University May 2010. She married Joe Swanberg on June 30, 2007.

Nice Cream

In the late 2000s, Swanberg was laid off from her job as a teacher with Chicago Public Schools and while searching for a new job, she recalled receiving an ice cream maker as a wedding gift.[2] She began experimenting with new flavors and started a new artisan small-batch ice cream business called "Nice Cream", producing the dessert at Logan Square Kitchen, a shared community resource in Chicago. By 2010, demand had increased such that the ice cream was being sold in 18 local outlets, including specialty stores, farmer's markets, and two Whole Foods locations.[3]

In late July, 2011, an inspector from Illinois Department of Public Health forced her to shut down operations until she either agreed to use a premade ice mix (as is used at Dairy Queen), or constructed her own manufacturing facility and purchased a commercial dairy license (intended to regulate major dairy producers such as Dean Foods).[2] Although she submitted samples of her ice cream to labs for testing, which determined her bacterial levels were far lower than the state's published allowable levels, the State of Illinois shut down Swanberg's company until she purchases the large commercial equipment, and even if she uses pasteurized milk and boils all of her products together, she would still need to process it all through a commercial pasteurizer.[2] Other small-batch ice cream makers in Illinois stated that they were concerned about the state coming for them next, particularly because they had invested significant sums in their businesses and could not afford to close.[2]

Unexpected

Swanberg's third feature Unexpected premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

References

  1. ↑ "SXSW 2008: Pictures from Opening Weekend". Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Eng, Monica (August 5, 2011). "Local ice cream makers face shutdown by state". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  3. ↑ Meyer, Ann (June 7, 2010). "Hard work sweetens luck of food entrepreneurs". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 17 July 2012.

External links