Katherine Brooks facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Katherine Brooks
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Brooks in 2010
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| Born |
Sara Katherine Hill
March 15, 1976 Covington, Louisiana, U.S.
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| Occupation | Writer, film director |
Katherine Brooks (born March 15, 1976) is an American film writer and director. She is a member of the Directors Guild of America, which is a group for film and TV directors. She was also a judge for Samsung Fresh-Films in 2007. In 2011, she was recognized as one of the "Amazing Gay Women in Showbiz" by POWER UP.
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Early Life
When Katherine Brooks was 16, she left her small hometown in Louisiana. She wanted to work in television and film. She even slept in her car in a Hollywood motel parking lot to follow her dream.
Career Highlights
Katherine Brooks has directed 21 television shows. She has also written and directed 10 films. Her work in film and TV includes three seasons of the Emmy Award-winning show The Osbournes. She also worked on Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica and MTV's The Real World. While working with MTV, she directed several reality shows. These include There and Back, Meet the Barkers, and The Simple Life.
Brooks started directing full-length movies after making her short films Finding Kate and Dear Emily.
Her first feature film was Loving Annabelle. It starred Erin Kelly, Diane Gaidry, and Kevin McCarthy. The movie first showed at the Cinequest Film Festival in 2006. It won awards like the Audience Award and Best Actress Award at Outfest. Loving Annabelle also won Best Feature Film at the Melbourne Film Festival (2006), Barcelona Film Festival (2006), and Atlanta Film Festival (2006). It also received the Jury Award at the Paris Cinema Festival (2006).
Brooks wrote her second feature film, Waking Madison, in New Orleans. This movie starred Sarah Roemer, Elisabeth Shue, Will Patton, Frances Conroy, and Taryn Manning. Her documentary Face 2 Face was available on Netflix in 2013. She also worked as a Field Producer for National Geographic Presents: Impact with Gal Gadot, which was produced by Gal Gadot.
Her most recent film is Lost in Time, released in 2018. It stars Jill Hennessy.
Personal Life
Katherine Brooks supports PETA, an organization that works for animal rights. She also practices Buddhism. Brooks lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Films by Katherine Brooks
Finding Kate
In 2004, Erin Kelly and Brooks created a short film called Finding Kate. This short film was part of a series called Virgin Memoirs. This series shared stories about women's "first-time" experiences.
In the film, a young Kelly plays 17-year-old Kate at a wedding party. She sees Victoria (Jessica Lancaster) and goes to talk to her cousin. The two become friendly and end up in the pool together.
Dear Emily
Sara plans to visit her high school friend Emily. On her way, she remembers her last time with her teenage crush. She recalls a letter she wrote to Emily, telling her how she felt. After a difficult memory of Emily making fun of Sara for the note, Sara decides to keep driving to her destination. Dear Emily was made with a small budget in six weeks. Brooks made it after winning a contest for her film Loving Annabelle.
Loving Annabelle
Loving Annabelle tells the story of a teacher at a Catholic boarding school, Simone Bradley (Diane Gaidry). She develops a close relationship with her student, Annabelle (Erin Kelly).
Variety magazine described the film as a "Guilty Pleasure". It won many awards at film festivals. These included the Outfest Award for Best Actress and the Outfest Audience Choice Award.
Waking Madison
Waking Madison is a film about a young woman dealing with a mental health condition.
Madison Walker (Sarah Roemer) experiences dissociative identity disorder. She lives in New Orleans and tries to live a normal life.
After some difficult events, Madison feels very sad and alone. She stays in her apartment for 30 days. She uses a video camera to record herself, like a video diary. In her first video, Madison says that if she doesn't find answers and feel better about her life by the 30th day, she will end her life.
With help from Doctor Elizabeth Barnes (Elisabeth Shue), Madison slowly starts to understand her life better. Madison stays in her apartment for 30 days to find a way to heal herself. She goes on a journey to discover what is real. The surprising ending makes viewers wonder the same thing. Brooks said:
I am interested in the challenge of telling a story from the point of view of a character who has multiple personality disorder. Visually, Madison will have a new style that mixes storytelling with real-life documentary feelings.
To research the topic, Brooks stayed by herself for 30 days. She went through the same process as the character Madison. This helped Brooks show her experiences from that time in the film. It made the character and story feel more real. Waking Madison was filmed in New Orleans in the winter of 2007.
Face 2 Face
Brooks made a documentary where she traveled around the country for three months in the summer. She met 50 of her Facebook friends. She had asked them on Facebook, "Who would like to spend a day with me and I'll come visit you?" The idea came to her after she had surgery. Even though she had 4700 friends on Facebook, she felt lonely.
Filmography
Feature Films
- Lost In Time (2017)
- The Boys Club (in development)
- Face 2 Face (2012)
- Waking Madison (2009)
- Loving Annabelle (2006)
- Surrender (2003)
Short Films
- Finding Kate (2004)
- Dear Emily (2001)
- Luna Butterflys (2000)
- Outtakes (1998)
Television Shows
- There & Back: Ashley Parker Angel (TV series) (2006)
- My Own (TV series) (2006)
- Meet the Barkers (TV series) (2005)
- Love is in the Heir (TV series) (2004)
- He's a Lady (TV series) (2004)
- Wanna Come In? (TV series) (2004)
- The Simple Life 2: Road Trip (TV series) (2004)
- Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica (TV series) (2003)
- The Real World: San Diego (TV series) (2003)
- The Osbournes (TV series) (2002)
- The Complex (TV series) (2002)
- ... (TV series) (1998)
See Also
- List of female film and television directors
- List of LGBT-related films directed by women
