Katherine O'Brien

Kat O'Brien is a writer, producer, director, performer and professor of interdisciplinary cinematic and theater arts. For over 20 years, Kat has worked as a screenwriter, story development executive, producer, and consultant developing film and television for Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., Sony, Anonymous Content, Focus Features, Rogue Pictures, Alcon Entertainment, Morgan Creek Productions, Blue Star Entertainment, and numerous internationally renowned and critically acclaimed independent filmmakers and television producers. As a world-renowned expert in story development, Kat has consulted for the Doha Film Institute and Film Al-Ula. Currently, Kat is working on multiple projects in various stages of development for film, television, stage, and publication. As a storyteller and changemaker, Kat loves to explore the intersection of screenwriting + community building. During the pandemic, Kat executive produced We Still Teach TV, for which she was awarded the Chicago Teachers’ Union LEAD award as a champion for education justice. In 2021, she created and edited Chi-town Screenwriting newsletter community, and was named an inaugural fellow of the Constellation Incubator, focused on exploring sustainable, equitable innovations in independent filmmaking. In 2022, she founded KOB Magic, empowering businesses, non-profits, artists, entrepreneurs and leaders in social-impact and political spaces to harness their creativity for enhanced collaboration, communication, and interpersonal connection. In 2025, Kat launched her Substack, Revision Mode: Rewrites, Reinvention and Creative Revolution as a newsletter + community for creatives from multiple disciplines to connect to collaborative opportunities across sectors. For the past 15 years, Kat has been a professor of screenwriting and producing. She has taught at Columbia College Chicago, juried festivals and labs around the world, and is currently also a Lecturer at The University of Chicago, a founding faculty member of The Second City Film School, and instructor for the Iowa Summer Writing Festival and Festival on Campus in Iowa City. Kat holds a BFA in Writing for Film and Television from the University of Southern California.