Karyn Spencer


Karyn Spencer is an American film producer, writer, and digital executive based in Los Angeles, California. She is best known for co-producing the films Killers and Spread, starring Ashton Kutcher, as well as her work directing Vines with Michelle Obama. Spencer has worked closely with many well-known American celebrities, including Ashton Kutcher, Tyra Banks, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez, and Will Smith.

Career

Film and television

Spencer worked with Ashton Kutcher from 2005 to 2010 and was the associate producer for the 2009 film Spread. She was also the co-producer of Killers, a 2010 film.
In 2014, Spencer served as an executive consultant for Spent, an American Express documentary about financially underserved and "underbanked" communities. The documentary was narrated by Tyler Perry and produced by Davis Guggenheim.
She directed Vines with Michelle Obama in 2015. In 2016, she produced and cast Camp Unplug. However, Twitter closed Vine after declining to pay its creators in 2016.
Spencer was Executive Producer of Super Saturday Night for DirecTV Now with Jennifer Lopez in 2018. That same year, she also gained media attention when she called Adam Pally a bully for his stunt at the Shorty Awards.

Other media activities

Spencer served as Director of Communications for Tyra Banks in 2012, then went to work as Director of Communications at a tech startup called Fancy Hands.
In 2017, she was VP of Hello Lab at AT&T, and was the co-founder of the Hello Lab Mentorship Program. The program gives filmmaking grants and celebrity mentors to historically underrepresented voices in Hollywood.
On January 29, 2018, Karyn discussed her partnerships in a podcast with Taylor Swift and Reese Witherspoon. Later that year, Taylor Swift named the iconic animated snake that she toured with in 2018 "Karyn."
In 2019, she became Director of Talent Partnerships and Influence Marketing at Target. At Target, Spencer launched #TargetTalent, a long-term brand partnership with influencers like Bobby Berk, Elaine Welteroth, and Lauren Giraldo. In addition, she produced a video with Will Smith surprising Target shoppers in the self-checkout lane.
Spencer also cast and produced a YouTube series called Let's Target with Emma Chamberlain, Tiffany Haddish, Casey Neistat, and others.

Community involvement

In 2018, while at AT&T, she sponsored free tickets for Beyond The Streets, a graffiti art exhibition organized at Los Angeles schools and community organizations with curator Roger Gastman.

Personal life

Karyn Spencer married Eric Murphy in 2004, and was sometimes credited as Karyn Spencer-Murphy. The couple divorced in 2010.