Katherine Brooks

Infobox actor
name = Katherine Brooks


imagesize = 175x240px
caption = Katherine Brooks, 2006puic|

birthname = Katherine (Kate) Hill
birthdate = March 15, 1976 (age 32)
birthplace = Covington, Louisiana, U.S.
occupation = Writer/Director
website = [http://www.katherinebrooks.com/ www.katherinebrooks.com]

Katherine Brooks (born March 15, 1976) is an American film writer and director.

Career

Brooks has directed prominent television shows, as well as written and directed films which received acclaim. Her film and television credits include three seasons of the Emmy Award winning show "The Osbournes", "Newlyweds" starring Jessica Simpson, and MTV’s groundbreaking "The Real World". While associated with MTV, she helmed the network's “There and Back”, "Meet the Barkers" with Blink182 drummer Travis Barker, and directed and produced "The Simple Life" starring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.

Brooks moved into directing feature films after receiving critical praise for her short films "Finding Kate" and "Dear Emily". Brooks's work has been screened at over 100 festivals around the world, and she has garnered several awards, including “Emerging Filmmaker Award” at the Italian Film Festival and the “Grand Jury Prize” at the Chicago Film Festival.

Brooks's first feature film, "Loving Annabelle", which Brooks wrote and directed and stars Erin Kelly, Diane Gaidry and Kevin McCarthy, debuted at the prestigious Cinequest Film Festival in 2006; the film won the Audience Award and Best Actress Award at Outfest. In addition, "Loving Annabelle" won Best Feature Film at Melbourne Film Festival (2006), Barcelona Film Festival (2006) and Atlanta Film Festival (2006), and the Jury Award at Paris Cinema Festival (2006); the film picked up six audience awards and four Jury Awards over the course of the six-month festival run. Brooks wrote her second feature, the indie thriller "Waking Madison", in New Orleans, a film which stars Sarah Roemer (Disturbia), Elisabeth Shue, Will Patton, Frances Conroy, and Taryn Manning. The film explores the journey of a young women suffering from multiple personality disorder. Brooks's latest projects include "The Boys' Club", "Curse on 1140 Royal Street", and an upcoming comedy.

Finding Kate

"Finding Kate" was a short film part of a series called "Virgin Memoirs", a compilation which narrated the “first time” experiences of women.

A very young Erin Kelly ("Loving Annabelle") plays 17-year-old Kate at a wedding reception. When she sees Victoria (Jessica Lancaster), she quickly drops her boyfriend's hand to go and talk to her cousin. The two flirt and end up in the pool together, their eyes dancing until they begin to kiss.

In 2004, Erin Kelly and Brooks made an experimental short film called "Finding Kate". The budget was $1,000 in-between work-shopping the film.

Dear Emily

“Sara is going to visit her high school friend Emily. On her journey there, she recalls her last experience with her teenage crush, remembering a letter that she wrote Emily—a letter confessing her love for her. Following a painful flashback to Emily’s mocking of Sara after she reads the note, and recalling the hurt that Emily had caused her, as Sara finally reaches her destination at the finale of this short film, she decides to keep on driving.”

“Dear Emily” was funded by EVEO.com after Brooks won a pitch contest for her feature film, "Loving Annabelle". Despite being given only 6 weeks from conception to completion, and just $1,000 to make it, the film, to date, has made back over 500% of its profit.

Loving Annabelle

"Loving Annabelle" is the controversial story of a Catholic Boarding School teacher, Simone Bradley (Diane Gaidry), who has an affair with her female student, Annabelle (Erin Kelly).

"Loving Annabelle" was written to explore the complexity and controversy of love and struggle between two women who "have every reason to deny their feelings". Blind to the world around them, the two journey into a love affair destined to change their lives forever. Inspired by the 1931 German classic, "Maedchen in Uniform", Brooks clarified:

"Loving Annabelle was a labor of love. I wrote the script while traveling the world working on reality shows to pay my bills. While crews would be off sharing a drink after wrap, I'd be huddled in my hotel corner with Cocteau Twins playing on my computer while I wrote. It took five years to put it together. It all started when I saw Erin Kelly (Annabelle) in the audience of a play I went to see. For years we worked on the character together, developing her especially for Erin to play—much of the dialogue is from us work-shopping it together. Diane Gaidry (Simone) then came on board to play opposite Erin."

"We were able to raise money for the entire production, through a collection of people which included ourselves, and set off to shoot the day after July 4th in 2005. We shot Annabelle in less than three weeks, with just twenty minutes to shoot some scenes, which for a director is frustrating. In most big budget movies, you average a page a day of script; we were shooting, on average, seven pages."

"We edited "Loving Annabelle" every day and night over a 12-week period. I then collaborated with the exceptionally talented music artists Aurah, who created a masterpiece of sound. We premiered at Cinequest that November, and were subsequently approached by many distributors - some much larger and more well known that Wolfe -- but as filmmakers felt like Wolfe would get behind our film and give it the distribution it deserved. Many people ask me how I feel watching it now and if I'm happy with the final product. I don't know if a director is ever really happy with their work, I just know I'm proud of what we were able to achieve with so little money and so little time."

The film was summed up by "Variety magazine" as a "Guilty Pleasure", and has won awards on the festival circuit, including the Outfest Award for Best Actress, and the Outfest Award for the Audience Choice. The film sat in the top five list of videos rented by lesbians according to Wolfe Video’s web site (see www.wolfevideo.com). It is recommended by 100% of readers on scene-OUT.com, and is ranked on the bestseller’s list in its category on Amazon.

Waking Madison

"Waking Madison" is the provocative story of a young woman’s battle with mental illness. Madison Walker (Sarah Roemer) is suffering of Disassociate Identity Disorder – or, multiple personality disorder. Living in New Orleans and working as a sex phone operator, Madison is doing everything she can to lead a normal life.

When a series of events leaves Madison suicidal and desperate, she locks herself away in her apartment for 30 days. Using a video camera to document herself like a visual journal, Madison clearly states of her first entry that if she does not have the answers to her questions and feels more at people with her life on the 30th day, she will kill herself.

With the help of Doctor Elizabeth Barnes (Elisabeth Shue), Madison begins to slowly piece her life together. Determined to find a cure for herself, Madison hostages herself in her apartment for 30 days and embarks on a journey to discover: what is real? The climactic twist at the end will leave audiences with the very same question. Brooks stated:

"I’m intrigued by the challenge of telling a story from the perspective of a character suffering from multiple personality disorder. Visually, Madison will take on an innovative style of mixing narrative with documentary- realism."

Waking Madison was shot on location in New Orleans in Winter 2008.

The Boys' Club

The Boys' Club is a feature-length film about a female jockey determined to find a path into the male-dominated sport of horse racing. The film is written and directed by Brooks.

Though horse racing films usually center around the trials, tribulations and glories of the racehorse, "The Boys' Club" takes a deeper look into "the complex and dangerous lives of jockeys". The film instead features a female jockey, which is seen as a paradox in the horse racing world.

Brooks was inspired to make "The Boys' Club" due to her love of horses, and the lack of well-received horse racing films on the market. "The Boys' Club" portrays the horse racing world in an honest and open manner; it examines all aspects of the sport. However, the focus remains on the heroine.

Personal life

Brooks is a member of the Directors Guild of America, a Jury Member for Samsung Fresh-Films 2007—the largest teen filmmaking program in the USA, and has recently been the recipient of the LACE Award for Arts and Entertainment, which honors women who have made a difference in the entertainment community. Her cult following on MySpace has also garnered a huge number of fans, in part due to her inspirational blogs that promote a refreshing outlook on life.

Filmography

Features

* The Boys' Club ("in development")
* Waking Madison (2009)
* Loving Annabelle (2006)
* Surrender (2003)

Short Films

* Finding Kate (2004)
* Dear Emily (2001)
* Luna Butterflys (2000)
* Outtakes (1998)

Television

* "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)
* "Sexcetera" (TV series) (1998)