Biography
Kristi Zea is an American production designer, costume designer, art director, producer and director. Born in New York City, she began her career as a stylist for a commercial photographer before moving into film as a costume designer on Alan Parker’s Fame (1980), Shoot the Moon (1982) and Birdy (1984), and on James L. Brooks’s Terms of Endearment (1983).
She transitioned to production design in the mid-1980s, with credits including Lucas (1986), Angel Heart (1987) and Married to the Mob (1988). Zea worked extensively with Martin Scorsese on New York Stories (1989), GoodFellas (1990) and The Departed (2006), and with Jonathan Demme on The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Philadelphia (1993) and other films. Her production design for Revolutionary Road (2008) received an Academy Award nomination.
Zea has also served as a producer on Broadcast News (1987) and As Good as It Gets (1997), and has directed television projects including episodes of New Amsterdam and the film Notes from the Field (2018). Later production design credits include The Intern (2015) and Daddio (2024).
