J. MEHR KAUR is a filmmaker & theatre director based in LA & New York. She likes to tell stories that mythicize the lives of ordinary people. Her work is rooted in her experience as a queer, Sikh, second generation American.

Mehr created and directed KULTAR’S MIME, an immersive play about the power of art in the wake of genocide, which toured globally across North America, Europe & Asia. Her theatre directing work focuses on new play development, including the NY premiere of QUEEN by Madhuri Shekar (Astoria Performing Arts Center), the staged concert of MAYA: THE MUSICAL (Symphony Space/Prospect Musicals), and the first staged production of ABCD by Lily Abha Cratsley (KriyaShakti/Greenway Arts).  Recent readings/workshops include WHO THE F*CK IS AHMED by Michael Zalta & PIGEONHOLE by Jasmine Sharma (CTG). She produced the world premiere of the new musical RIOT ANTIGONE by Seonjae Kim (La MaMa ETC, Ars Nova) and helmed RAT QUEEN THEATRE CO, which creates new musicals that reimagine history through a queer lens. She has served as the assistant/associate to directors such as Oliver Butler, Kimberly Senior, James Macdonald and Adrienne Campbell-Holt including on the NY premiere of Tony Award winning EUREKA DAY by Jonathan Spector (Colt Coeur).

Mehr recently directed the award-winning short film I'M DEAD RIGHT? starring Sakina Jaffrey and executive produced by D’Lo. She was a creative producer for the shorts FOR NIKO by Alexandra Shipp and START THEM YOUNG by Jenna Rossman. She has worked in TV development at Amazon & Netflix, and is currently the assistant to Craig Mazin on HBO's THE LAST OF US.

Mehr graduated with a BA from Smith College and an MFA from the Peter Stark Producing Program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. She’s an alum of the National Theatre Institute, has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has spoken at the Surat Sikh Conference and the Pluralism Project at Harvard Divinity School.  She was a Colt Coeur Resident Artist, member of the Williamstown Theatre Festival Directing Corps, Directing Fellow at Manhattan Theatre Club and recipient of The Samuel A. Eliot, Jr./Julia Heflin Award for Distinguished Directing and a Fulbright-Nehru Directing Grant.