Crystal R. Emery

Crystal R. Emery
Emery in 2025
Born
Crystal Renee Emery

1961 (1961)
New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
DiedMay 5, 2026 (age 64-65)
New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Other nameCrystal Emery-Kerr
EducationUniversity of Connecticut
The New School
OccupationsFilmmaker, playwright, theatre director
Years activec. 1985–2025
SpouseMichael Kerr

Crystal Renee Emery (February 25, 1961 – May 5, 2026) was an American filmmaker, playwright, theatre director and founder and CEO of URU The Right To Be, Inc., a nonprofit content production company. She also was featured in the Smithsonian's #IfThenSheCan – The Exhibit, a collection of life-sized 3D-printed statues of role models in STEM.[1] As a filmmaker, she was known for directing the 2010 documentary The Deadliest Disease in America.

Early life and education

Crystal Renee Emery was born in 1961 in the Brookside neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut.[2][3] She became interested in filmmaking at a young age.[4] During her childhood, she started directing plays with her brothers and she wrote her first play about Harriet Tubman's work to free people who were enslaved.[5][6]

Emery earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Connecticut in 1985.[7] She returned to the East Coast to New York City and then moved to New York City and earned an M.A. in media studies from The New School of Public Engagement.[1]

Career

Emery began directing plays while she was in college.[8] After graduating, she worked as an apprentice in theater with Lloyd Richards[9] and later as a production assistant for Bill Duke.[10] She later worked with Suzanne de Passe during the filming of The Jacksons: An American Dream (1991–1992).[11]

She directed multiple documentary films including The Deadliest Disease in America[12][13] and Changing the Face of Medicine.[14] In 2010, she began working on the documentary Black Women in Medicine in which she interviews seven black physicians and combines the interviews with historical videos from the 1950s and 1960s.[15][16] The film was well-received, having a theatrical run in 2016 and later airing on public television. It was also screened internationally as part of the American Film Showcase.[17] She later founded URU The Right To Be, Inc., a nonprofit content production company.[18]

Her written works included Sweet Nez,[10][19] the play A Way Out of No Way,[20] and a book titled Against All Odds, which features 100 prominent Black women medical doctors.[14] She worked on a virtual reality game called You Can't Be What You Can't See which allows players to step into a virtual reality world as a medical professional.[21]

Emery was a member of the Producers Guild of America and New York Women in Film and Television. Emery also served as an If/Then Ambassador for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), where she was featured in the Smithsonian's #IfThenSheCan – The Exhibit, a collection of life-sized 3D-printed statues of women in STEM.[22]

In January 2025, Crystal launched her comedy career as an opener for Michelle Buteau at the Bellhouse Theatre in New York.[23] She later began performing at Bregamos Community Theater in New Haven.[2] Crystal's first self-published book, Without a Trace, was released in 2025.[24]

Personal life and death

While in college, Emery was diagnosed with a form of Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease, an incurable genetic disorder which leads to quadriplegia and diabetes.[7][12] She was married to Michael Kerr at the time of her death.[2]

In 2018, she received an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Connecticut.[9][25]

Emery died at the Hospital of Saint Raphael in New Haven, on May 5, 2026.[2] Her widower announced her death six days later.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "| IF/THEN® Collection". www.ifthencollection.org. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Crystal Emery, 1961-2026". New Haven Independent. May 11, 2026. Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  3. ↑ McLoughlin, Pamela (June 9, 2014). "Former tenants honored for making New Haven apartment complex special in its early days". New Haven Register. New Haven, Conn. pp. A.4.
  4. ↑ Doherty, Donna (July 24, 2011). "Pioneer Physicians; Filmmaker Crystal Emery needs funds to complete her homage to these women". New Haven Register. New Haven, Conn. pp. F.1.
  5. ↑ "Energy in Motion: FIlmmaker Crystal R. Emery is a Force for Change in STEM - AWIS Magazine". AWIS. April 22, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  6. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Jackie (December 22, 1991). "Director Writes Her Own Script in Life, Too". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  7. 1 2 Megan, Kathleen (May 6, 2018). "Quadriplegic Filmmaker, Producer Urges UConn Grads To 'Never Stop, Never Give Up'". Hartford Courant. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  8. ↑ Dunne, Susan (August 21, 2016). "Medical struggle for black women". Hartford Courant. pp. , . Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  9. 1 2 Cole, Kristen (April 27, 2018). "2018 Commencement Speakers". UConn Today. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  10. 1 2 Toppman, Lawrence (April 25, 1993). "How to make a movie cheaply: That's the ticket". The Charlotte Observer. p. 67. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Exclusive Interview with the talented American documentarist Crystal Emery". www.megadiversities.com. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  12. 1 2 Fitzgerald, Toni. "New Documentary Focuses On Health Care's Greatest Threat. It's Not Covid". Forbes. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  13. ↑ "The deadliest disease in America". Ability; Costa Mesa. October–November 2021. pp. 20–25.
  14. 1 2 Hall, Mia (August 30, 2016). "Documenting and supporting Black women doctors in America". NBC News. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  15. ↑ Raven, Kathleen (May 5, 2016). "Still against all odds: 'Black Women in Medicine'". YaleNews. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  16. ↑ Reviews of Black Women in Medicine:
    • Williams, Jhodie-Ann (June 23, 2016). "'Black Women in Medicine' is forcing the need for Black women doctors to the forefront". New York Amsterdam News – via Gale.
    • Manning, Kimberly D. (October 10, 2017). "Black Women in Medicine —A Documentary". JAMA. 318 (14): 1306–1307. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.11551. ISSN 0098-7484. PMID 29049567.
    • Amarante, Joe (November 12, 2015). "New Haven filmmaker Crystal Emery spotlights pioneering black women docs". New Haven Register. New Haven, Conn.
  17. ↑ "Black Women In Medicine". Crystal R. Emery. September 16, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Home – URU The Right To Be". www.urutherighttobe.org. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  19. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Jackie (October 23, 1994). "The State's Already Got Live-In Stars, Now to Organize Supporting Casts". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  20. ↑ Carty, Linnet (June 12, 1998). "Musical at Atheneum was a stirring tribute". Hartford Courant. p. 32. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  21. ↑ Matthews, Nadine (January 28, 2021). "Filmmaker Crystal Emery focuses on Black women doctors". New York Amsterdam News. New York. p. 16.
  22. ↑ Stannard, By Ed (March 4, 2022). "New Haven STEM pioneer honored with statue on National Mall in D.C." New Haven Register. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  23. ↑ "Stand Up With Crystal R. Emery". New Haven Arts. April 16, 2025. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  24. ↑ "Acclaimed Filmmaker and Advocate Crystal R. Emery Debuts First Novel, Without a Trace". Jacksonville Free Press. June 20, 2025. Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  25. ↑ Eckhardt, Bret (May 7, 2018). "Crystal Emery '85 (SFA) an Inspiration to CLAS Graduates". UConn Today. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
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