Kathryn is an award-winning screenwriter who has worked in the NZ & Australian television/film industry for over 25 years. She has significant television and film credits (credits below) and has developed numerous television series for NZ’s major production companies. She is currently the Story Producer on Series 2 “Secrets At Red Rocks”.
Her one woman play “Nicola Cheeseman is Back” was recently shortlisted for the 2023 Adams NZ Play Award.
She was on the writing team for Series 2 of award-winning animated series – Bird’s Eye View (TVNZ) and her most recently produced TV credits include “The Brokenwood Mysteries” , “Under The Vines” and “My Life is Murder.” In 2020 she co-wrote tele-feature “The Tender Trap” which picked up the NZTVA BEST Drama Script Award 2021 and was the script editor on TVNZ’s limited series “Black Hands“.
The world premiere of her latest play “The Campervan” enjoyed a sell out season at the Pumphouse Theatre in Sept 2022. Read Review. And 2023 saw a return to the Pumphouse with her first play “Mike & Virginia” Read Review.
In 2018 she was a Seed Grant (Advanced) recipient and a co-writer on the TVNZ television series “The Cul de Sac” and “Fresh Eggs.”
Kathryn has worked as a Script Assessor for NZOA and helped numerous writers and producers move their projects forward. She’s a regular guest on RNZ’s The Panel and has run sell-out workshops at the Auckland Writers Festival. In October 2019 she was a speaker at the Fourth World Conference of Screenwriters in Berlin. She was also a serving member on the NZ Writers Guild board for over 5 years.
Kathryn produced her first play ‘Mike & Virginia” (co-written with Nick Ward) in 2011 as part of the Comedy Festival and it was subsequently produced in Wellington at Circa Theatre 2013 and by Tadpole Productions in 2023.
AWARDS/COMPETITIONS:
2023 – Shortlisted – 2023 Adams NZ Play Award - Nicola Cheeseman is Back
2021 – Winner – NZTVA’s Best Script – Drama (w Riwia Brown)
2020 – Winner – Show Me Shorts Festival – Best Screenplay – Prickly Jam (w James Cunningham)
2017 – Shortlisted – Adams NZ Play Award – The Campervan
2012 – Winner – SWANZ – Best Play – Mike & Virginia (w Nick Ward)
2004 – Winner KFM Inaugural Short Story Competition
2003 – Winner – AFTA for Best Drama Script (w Paula Boock) for “The Strip.” (2003)
1998 – Winner – Qantas Media Award – Best Human Relations Column
Film Credits:
Prickly Jam (short film) – Co-writer, Shelved (Winner – Best Animated Short Film – NY International Film Festival) – Writer, GURL (short) – Script Consultant, Daniel (short) – Script Consultant, She Shears (feature documentary) – Story Consultant, Breaker-Upperers (feature) – Script Consultant, The Devil’s Rock (Feature) – Story Editor, Dean Spanley (Feature) – Script Consultant, Love Birds (Feature) – Story Editor, The Ferryman (Feature) – Script Editor, Cradle – Script Consultant, Poppy (Animated Short) – Story Editor.
Theatre Credits:
“Nicola Cheeseman is Back” (Plumb Theatre 2024/2025), “The Campervan” (Tadpole Productions 2022), “Mike & Virginia” – Producer/Playwright,(Stamp 2011, Circa 2013, Tadpole Productions 2023) “Bowled Over” (Auckland Theatre Company 2013) – Playwright, “Girls Gotta Eat” – Writer.
Television Credits:
Secrets At Red Rocks (Series 2 - Story Producer) The Tender Trap (tele-feature), Black Hands (limited series – script editor) Under The Vines (rom-com series), My Life is Murder (cosy crime series), Fresh Eggs (black comedy), The Sounds (6- part thriller), The Cul de Sac (multi-award-winning children’s drama series) The Cult – (primetime drama) – Co-Creator, Amazing Extraordinary Friends – (children’s comedy series) The Strip – (primetime drama) Holly’s Heroes – (children’s drama) The Lost Children – (children’s drama) Street Legal – (primetime drama)
Books: “The Productive Writer Guidebook” (BGWW) “How to Spot a Dickhead” (Upstart Press) “Has Johnny Come Lately?” (HarperCollins)
Magazines: North & South, Grace Magazine, More Magazine, She Magazine, Canadian Screenwriter.