Lesley Kubistal is a five-time Emmy-nominated editor whose character-driven storytelling amplifies voices and reveals truth with clarity and heart. For more than twenty years, she has worked with Harpo Productions, shaping award-winning segments for THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW, OPRAH’S SUPER SOUL SUNDAY, and OPRAH’S MASTER CLASS, specials including OPRAH WITH MEGHAN AND HARRY, and many others. She continues that collaboration today through THE OPRAH PODCAST. Lesley’s editorial range extends across acclaimed documentaries including SELECTED, AMERICAN PHAROAH, KEEP TALKING, ALL THE QUEEN’S HORSES, and the multi-award-winning and Emmy-nominated END OF THE LINE: THE WOMEN OF STANDING ROCK. Lesley also edited SAME GOD, the award-winning documentary about Dr. Larycia Hawkins, a tenured, Black professor whose public act of solidarity with Muslim women ignited a national debate about faith, identity, and belonging.
Lesley’s recent work includes the PBS series SACRED PLANET, exploring how faith traditions confront the climate crisis, and T.REX, a museum-distributed IMAX and dome-theater film narrated by Sam Neill that screened at the Smithsonian. Additional credits include the documentary short POST CONVICTION, about Roosevelt Myles’ exoneration after spending 26 years wrongfully imprisoned. Lesley has served as Red Queen Media’s senior editor for 11 years, where in addition to editing much of its original content, she has also edited dozens of its commissioned documentaries. She is based in Chicago.