Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie O’grady
Hi Katie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I always wanted to be an actor, ever since I saw Olivia Newton-John on Grease but living in the small town of Medford, OR, I didn’t know how to make that happen. I didn’t know any actors and there was only school plays to perform in, which I did. I took my first trip to NYC with my drama club and my very first musical I made a promise that no matter what, I would find my way. I have stuck to that promise. I got my first break when I was working as a TV reporter in Portland, OR and they aired a segment looking for actors for a Paramount Picture movie starring Tommy Lee Jones and Benicia Del Torro. I auditioned and somehow got the job, working with one of the greatest directors of our time, William Friedkin. From there I worked hard at training and jumped onto any set that I could, building a solid acting career that I could be proud of working on shows like Portlandia, Grimm, Leverage and more. I started to feel like I wanted more so against a lot of advice, I approached James Westby, a local filmmaker and asked what scripts he had in development and could I produce and star in one. That film was called Rid of Me and we opened at the Tribeca Film Festival, NY Times gave us Critics Pick of the Week and several of us went on to be listed on Scott Feinberg’s Oscar Watch List. It was really exciting. Door were opening as fast as they could close and I realized that living in Portland was going to hold me back from being part of the type’s of projects I really wanted to act in. I was also running an acting studio and mentoring artists in our community so I made the decision to focus on my local market and work my way towards directing. At this time, women were not behind the camera, none that I ever saw on hundreds of sets and in all the years acting. I still knew that is what I wanted to do, one day I made the decision and said it out loud, I am a director. After all, I had multiple classes a week coaching scenes for hours and hours, and I had been watching countless male directors who knew more about light than performance go before me, why not me? While it seems like an easy decision the inner strength I had to muster up just to start directing short films felt like a mountain needed to be moves. Within two years I had a full service production company and an Emmy award in directing to be able to say with full confidence-yes, I am a director. I am excited to be embarking on directing several feature films this coming year!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
In some ways, the road has been smooth and so many others not. When you wake up every day doing the thing your younger self dreamed of doing, that’s pretty special. I honored that little girl’s dream and never gave up on her. In other ways, being self taught has made me eat a lot of cringe and continuing forward even when I am completely aware of my short comings can fill me with anxiety. There were times when women were not welcome behind the camera and I even took a lot of shit when I wanted to produce but I never stop moving forward and evolving into the next version of me and that makes it all worth it. I am grateful to the mentors that pick up my calls or help me with camera rentals, just so I can keep the train moving and believing that I don’t ever have to stop. I don’t think I could if I tried at this point. It has been an honor to pursue my passion.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As an actor, I am most known for my comedy work and timing. The team at Portlandia (Fred Armisen and Johnathan Krisel) kept me on for all 8 seasons and gave me some of the best times I have had on camera. Locally casting teams like Cast Iron Studios and Simon Max Hill pushed for me to get roles that mostly would be brought up from LA, where I live now. Those jobs gave me a lot of confidence and allowed me to build my creative flow from a place of confidence and imagination. Nothing is more fun that sketch comedy and improv! I write and have several features I am hoping to make and the confidence I have gained from other amazing artist has given me the courage to believe we are not separate, one more “special” that the other, we are truly all artists in our own right and deserve the chance to express our uniqueness.
I would say I specialize in performance driven art. If there is a project that needs a director to have a sharp eye on truthful performances, that is my strongest contribution. Trained in Meisner technique has helped me beat by beat, track the moments of truth with every performance. I had the pleasure of working with Nike athlete’s and NBA players and I can tell you the challenge of getting a non-actor out of their head and into the truth of the moment has also been really thrilling. As an actor, I live for that truth, like breath in meditation, it carries the next most realist moment to the next to the next with deep focus and intensity of living in the exact moment. I can’t think of anything more exciting. I think I am also known for being very collaborative and helping other creatives cut out what is unnecessary and get to the heart of a piece. I love producing on projects I direct and working in and around every detail. I am very fortunate to have worked with some amazing people.
Any big plans?
There have been some big changes this last year or two. I moved to LA to work my ways towards episodic directing and while my focus was pulled trying to shadow, I was offered a feature (6million) to direct with an amazing team. I have been obsessing over, of all things Zombies! The film I am directing is called Click Like to Die, a team comedy horror written by Emily Rued and packaged by MPMG. We have DP Darin Moran on board and a cast of incredible actors. I never imagined my first feature directing would be zombies but now I am obsessed. The team has two other features we are pairing up on and I am really excited to be in long form storytelling. I am still hoping one day to direct episodics tho, there is something abut the pace and intensity that excites me. I no longer believe amazing opportunities are for the “special”, I know they are for us all and we just have to keep going.
Pricing:
- Carrer Consults $95/hr for new actors/filmakers
Contact Info:
- Website: https://katieogrady.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katieo.grady/
Image Credits
Sila Sheloni-Red dress and yellow shirt shots (headshots)
Dana Patrick -Grey T Shirt headshot
Ingrid Moriarty -BTS red flannel and blue long sleeve directing shots
