Video
For work samples, please click on the boldfaced items.
Reading Rainbow: Producer
Kathy joined the production staff at Reading Rainbow in 1989. Hosted by LeVar Burton and shot on location across the country, the series offered up kids' literature as the most fun imaginable. The staff was small, and Kathy got to do a little bit of everything: scout locations, direct kids on camera, and create onscreen graphics. But she found her real talent in story research, connecting with the people who brought each episode's theme to life: kids who could describe what it meant to be adopted, a family expecting a new sibling, a seventeen-year-old girl from Brooklyn who was learning to be a pilot.
The Ruth Law Thrills a Nation episode tells the story of women in flight. In addition to her work as producer, Kathy wrote the voice-over for the re-enactment of the Bessie Coleman story and made a guest appearance as a 1920's reporter (not her usual job!)
The Ruth Law Thrills a Nation episode tells the story of women in flight. In addition to her work as producer, Kathy wrote the voice-over for the re-enactment of the Bessie Coleman story and made a guest appearance as a 1920's reporter (not her usual job!)
Reading with Babies: Producer
Kathy first connected with the Read to Me Program as a volunteer leading a six-week workshop for moms at an inter-generational residence down the block from her apartment. The program brings the joy of reading with babies to parents and caregivers wherever they are: in high school programs for pregnant and parenting teens, in prison, and in the public library. Read to Me's award-winning Reading with Babies video demonstrates the why and how, showing dozens of grown-ups sharing books with kids under two. In a truly collaborative effort, Kathy scheduled shoots, wrangled babies, and helped Executive Producer Susan Straub structure the material for this award-winning 18-minute video for parents, caregivers, and those who coach them.
Field Trips USA: Series Creator/Producer
The raw materials: hours and hours of C-SPAN footage, finished "postcards" shot at national historic sites.
The challenge: create a kids' TV series for The History Channel that incorporates this footage and not much more.
The product: two seasons of Field Trips USA, an original newsmagazine series that covers the country – from unusual inventions to natural wonders – quirky characters to national heroes.
As series producer, Kathy organized and edited the material into thematic episodes, commissioned graphics, and wrote wraparounds for the series' hosts. The Annenberg Center included Field Trips USA in their 1999 list of high-quality children's programs.
The challenge: create a kids' TV series for The History Channel that incorporates this footage and not much more.
The product: two seasons of Field Trips USA, an original newsmagazine series that covers the country – from unusual inventions to natural wonders – quirky characters to national heroes.
As series producer, Kathy organized and edited the material into thematic episodes, commissioned graphics, and wrote wraparounds for the series' hosts. The Annenberg Center included Field Trips USA in their 1999 list of high-quality children's programs.
From Butterfly to Butterfly: Co-Creator
Created with Susan Markowitz Meredith, From Butterfly to Butterfly was a pilot for proposed "Science Minutes" to accompany pre-school programming. This two-minute film was Kathy's first foray into stop-motion animation.
