Chris Kalis is a filmmaker, designer, musician, and educator based in Chicago, IL.
He is co-founder of the award-winning and internationally recognized creative studio Plural and the Chicago-based electronic music group Chandeliers. Chandeliers’ recordings and live performances have received praise internationally from the likes of The WIRE, Pitchfork, NPR, The Quietus, Chicago Reader, and Chicago Tribune. He has created the album art and has produced and mixed their recorded output since 2006. Chando Radio, hosted by Chandeliers, on WLPN-LP Lumpen Radio, is a weekly electronic music program that he co-hosts and produces. In addition to Chandeliers, Chris has performed and recorded with the Chicago based groups Drasii, Icy Demons, Songs for Gods, Michael Columbia, and Bronze.
Chris has collaborated on animated films and music videos that have screened internationally, including the Ann Arbor Film Festival and Pictoplasma Conference and Festival Berlin. He has exhibited artwork at the Hyde Park Art Center, Co-Prosperity, Public Works Gallery, Chicago Cultural Center, and the Chicago Design Archive.
He combined his passion for electronic music, design, and filmmaking while working as a field producer and graphic designer on the award-winning feature-length documentary God Said Give ‘Em Drum Machines, directed by Kristian R. Hill, about the history of Detroit Techno music. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022.
Chris directed, produced, co-wrote, and held many other creative roles on the animated short Illuminatus! which premiered at FilmQuest in 2024. The film is based on the cult classic novels by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson and was made in collaboration with animation students and faculty at DePaul University in Chicago. The voice cast includes Alex Cox, Jon Glaser, and Gregg Turkington. The film is currently in the festival circuit and has screened at Humboldt International Film Fest, Columbus International Film & Animation Festival, Midwest Weird Fest, and won best animation at Hollywood Blvd Film Festival.
