“WOMAN ON FIRE” @ Creative Cauldron, 2025. 

Directed by Elena Velasco.

Julian Kelley (he/they) is a projection designer and animator currently based in the DMV area. He seeks to combine his motion design background with his love of theatre to create memorable and thought-provoking live experiences.

Julian is a member of IATSE, Local USA 829. He is a 2023 graduate of the Video & Media Design MFA program @ Carnegie Mellon University. They are a graduate of Rider University's Technical Theatre program.

RESUME


“WOMAN ON FIRE” @ Creative Cauldron, 2025. 

“Another element...was the production’s most entrancing: a sheet draped from ceiling to floor, upon which various images — designed by Julian Kelley — are projected throughout the play. At certain moments, these images bleed down the screen, amplifying the supernatural element of the production and creating an evocative visual experience.
        -DC Theater Arts


“Still images on screen, crafted by projection designer Julian Kelley, appear at times to quiver or breathe, evoking the haunting movement of Edvard Munch’s The Scream and underscoring the idea that memory, like trauma, is never fully still.”
       -Maryland Theatre Guide
Directed by Elena Velasco.

“THE LEHMAN TRILOGY” @ Capital Repertory Theatre, 2025. Projection Design by Camilla Tassi.

“Camilla Tassi and Julian Kelley have come up with a superb projection design...”
        -Metroland Now












Directed by Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill.

“COMMUNION” @ Nancy Manocherian’s the cell theatre, 2024. Co-Projection design with Ryan Belock.

“Communion...has an unusually slick production design...One of the most affecting touches in Ryan Belock and Julian Kelley's projection design is the footage of the men dancing, ecstatically, at the reception...TV and radio broadcasts...combine with projections in a remarkable sequence detailing the media firestorm that erupts after LaBanca's case goes public.”
        -Lighting & Sound America




Directed by Kira Simring.

“AMERICAN PSYCHO” @ Monumental Theatre Company, 2024.

“Projections designed by Julian Kelley are splashed across the front wall with distorted images and at times seem to be airing an overhead view of the action on the stage, a mind melting effect that further accentuates the complex and intricate design of the show as a whole.”
        -DC Theater Arts

“Kelley and Wolhardt used a unique blend of found footage from the time period, acidified visuals, and live camera to lend a bird’s eye view to the gruesome goings on.”
        -Maryland Theatre Guide

“...they were incredibly engaging: multiple times, especially when Bateman was commiting acts of violence, a birds-eye view of center-stage was plastered on the wall, forcing the audience to be complicit in these acts from multiple angles in real-time”
        -BroadwayWorld

“An unsung but crucial technical choice was its use of projections, a rarely-impressive but increasingly common element which is used here with pure artistic skill by Julian Kelley...”
        -Morris Theatre DC
Directed by Michael Windsor.

“PRIVATE JONES” @ Signature Theatre, 2024. Video design by Patrick W. Lord.


Written & Directed by Marshall Pailet.

“LIZZIE” @ Theaterworks Hartford, 2023. Projection design by Camilla Tassi.

Directed by Lainie Sakakura.

“THE LITTLE MERMAID” @ Sierra Repertory Theatre, 2022.

Directed by Jerry Lee.

“CONSTELLATIONS” @ Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, 2023.

Directed by Sarah Margaret Stowell.

“AS YOU LIKE IT” @ Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, 2022.

Directed by Peter Andersen.

“PRAISE IS WHAT WE DO” @ CMU Playground XX, 2022.

Directed by Kevin Tappan, Jr.

“LILY TOAD IN CLOWN TOWN” @ CMU Playground XX, 2022.

Directed by Phoebe Lloyd.

“POWER/TRIP” @ Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, 2021.

Directed by Anne Demelo.