Hahn was born in
Omaha, Nebraska and later moved to
New Mexico. She relocated to Los Angeles to attend
USC Film School. At the age of 15, being raised by her mother, she watched many movies and became interested in becoming a storyteller. At 18, she moved to
Los Angeles. While she was a film student at the
University of Southern California, she also worked for
Bob Ellison as his assistant for 3 years, where she learned about writing. Hahn began her career as a theater producer, shepherding six productions including
Maps for Drowners, the first play in Los Angeles to address the
AIDS epidemic. Hahn co-directed, wrote and produced the documentary feature,
Anthem. The film features interviews with
Hunter S. Thompson,
Willie Nelson,
Robert Redford,
George McGovern,
Studs Terkel and poet laureate,
Rita Dove. The doc was dubbed "essential viewing" by Variety, "illuminating" by The Hollywood Reporter, and "one of the most charming and thought-provoking documentaries of the year!" by Chicago Tribune. She also co-wrote the companion book,
Anthem: An American Road Story, published by
HarperCollins. In 2002, Hahn published her second book with HarperCollins. ''In Search of Grace: A Religious Outsider's Journey Across America's Landscape of Faith''. In 2008, Hahn and
Jennifer Aniston formed the production company
Echo Films. Through Echo Films, Hahn executive produced
The Switch starring Jennifer Aniston and
Jason Bateman. She also executive produced the franchise television projects,
Five, and Five: Call Me Crazy. In 2014, Hahn executive produced
Cake, starring Jennifer Aniston as a chronic pain sufferer. Hahn executive produced
The Yellow Birds, written by
David Lowery and directed by
Alexandre Moors, starring
Tye Sheridan,
Alden Ehrenreich and
Jennifer Aniston. Hahn adapted
Julie Murphy’s New York Times best-selling novel,
Dumplin’, starring
Danielle Macdonald and Jennifer Aniston. She also served as Producer. The film was released on Netflix in 2018. It was described by Deadline as "a triumph for all the women behind of and in front of the scenes", and The Atlantic said "the movie itself represents a new, valuable kind of narrative". Hahn is an executive producer on the Apple TV+ drama,
The Morning Show, starring Jennifer Aniston and
Reese Witherspoon. She was nominated for a
Producers Guild of America Award and a
Golden Globe for her work on the show. In 2015, Hahn founded production company,
Hahnscape Entertainment. Hahnscape's first feature film release was
Tumbledown, starring
Jason Sudeikis and
Rebecca Hall. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2015. Leonard Maltin said "Indie films like Tumbledown deserve all the breaks they can get. This one rewards the viewer with a typically fine performance by Rebecca Hall and a revelatory one by Jason Sudeikis". Under her Hahnscape banner, Kristin adapted the
Jerry Spinelli novel,
Stargirl, for Disney+ and produced the film alongside Gotham Entertainment. The
Stargirl film follows the story of Leo (
Graham Verchere) who becomes intrigued by a mysterious and quirky student named Stargirl (
Grace VanderWaal), which Deadline described as "a teen movie marching to its own unique beat that probably would have brought a smile to John Hughes". Hahn co-wrote DreamWorks Animation's
Spirit Untamed, released in June 2021. The Los Angeles Times described it as "a sweet film with a moving message about embracing family, heritage and most importantly, yourself, just the way you are." With Forbes calling it a "colorful and nuanced character play". From 2021 to 2022, Kristin served as the
Kelley School of Business's Poling Chair of Business and Government at
Indiana University. ==Filmography==