Check Out Katie Harriman’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Harriman.

Hi Katie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am a screenwriter from Pasadena, California, and based in Los Angeles. I have always been a writer. I found it easiest to journal my thoughts versus talking about them, especially as a child. Throughout my schooling, I always had wonderful teachers who encouraged me to pursue writing, both creative and academic. I grew up in a family that worshipped the cinema—we went almost every weekend, and I went to the movies with my grandmother almost every Friday after school. My silly stories that I liked to write became like a lifeline for me, and eventually I decided to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in English, which I received from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, and a Master’s degree in Screenwriting from London MetFilm. I applied to grad school after having a bad day at work. I was enrolled in a sketch writing class at UCB, which was the only thing I looked forward to week after week. I was making copies at a job I hated, and thought, “Wouldn’t it be sick if I got my masters in Screenwriting in London?” So I applied, got in, figured out my financials, and moved to London for a bit. I have since moved back to LA after completing my masters, but it was hands down the best year of my life.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I have writers and academics in my family, so that part felt natural, but the path to screenwriting has been a bit more tumultuous. It has proved much harder to carve my own path, but liberating to do so, in a sense. I’m so grateful for friends and family who have helped guide me and encouraged me along the way. It’s so easy as a screenwriter to get caught up in worrying what people want to see versus what you actually want to write. I’ve been trying to focus on the latter.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a screenwriter primarily focusing on comedy and horror. I specialize in dialogue, particularly in making it feel realistic. Nothing bothers me more than seeing an actor deliver a line that’s awkward or unnatural. I am most proud of my output from my recent grad school experience: two episodes of a web series titled Divine Intervention, created by Alice Pafumi, a short film called Off Licence, co-written by me and the director, Danny Balbaaki, which was recently selected for the Poppy Jasper Film Festival (as highlighted in Variety), the Cardiff Mini Film Festival, and numerous others. My comedy-horror script Inner Demons was also recently a semi-finalist in the Scriptation Showcase Script Competition.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
When I was in fifth grade, my grandmother took me to New York for the first time. We went over New Year’s Eve, and it was so hectic and insane; I’m from Pasadena, so we have a lot of excitement with the Rose Parade, but it was nothing compared to how nuts NYC is. I got to see Avril Lavigne perform on a rooftop. I was 11, so it must have been 2002. I was obsessed with her, so it was a huge deal for me. I was a big concert goer as a kid, but had kind of stumbled upon her performance by accident with my grandma. I think I cried! I was so stoked.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katieharriman/