kateRchrisman

Environmentalist | Writer | Mother

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Berlin-based Screenwriter and Editor

Welcome to my spot on the internet! 


I'm a participant in the Serial Eyes 2023-2024 program - Europe's premier training program for TV writers. 

 

I write political thrillers and high concept dramedies about mothers who make “bad” decisions, like outsourcing their husband’s sex lives, purposefully getting hit by cars so they can get a break from the demands of motherhood or blowing up the electricity grid to prevent climate change. My work often combines satire and dark humor with issues of parenting, morality, and climate change. 


My half-hour dramedy pilot Outsourced won the Bellem Entertainment TV Scholarship, was a semifinalist for the Austin Film Festival 2022, a semifinalist for the Stowe Story Labs Maven Fellowship 2023, a quarterfinalists for the Cinestory Fellowship 2023, and a quarterfinalist for the Filmmatic Inroads Fellowship in 2022. Another one of my pilots, The Do-Gooders, was a quarterfinalist for The Writers Lab 2023. 

 

I also write short humor pieces and essays (you can find links to these below) and am one of the hosts of the Greener Pastures Podcast on humor writing.   

 

Before screenwriting, I reported from Mongolian coal mines, got big tech companies to invest more money in wind and solar, and advised the Chinese government on how to transition to renewable energy. I started my career in socially responsible investing (now called ESG) and I’ve worked as a project manager, editor, translator, and teacher. There was also that one time I drove a carful of Chinese reporters down California’s highway one for a Malibu commercial. 

 

I've traveled extensively throughout Asia. Back in 2012, I bought a $300 Giant bicycle, left my job in Beijing and rode through China, Laos, and Thailand with my fiancé. 


I've run a total of two half-marathons. I will probably want to talk to you about it. 

 

I’ve lived in Beijing, Shanghai, London, Taipei, Singapore, Oakland, Washington DC, and my hometown of Minneapolis. I speak Chinese (真的). I live in Germany. It would probably be better for me to speak German.

 

I'm a feminist and a mother of three.

 


 

I Like Learning

I hope you do too.

In case you care about things like where I've studied, I have a MSc in Public Policy from the London School of Economics. I have a B.A. in International Political Science and Asian Studies from Colorado College. I also studied Chinese language at National Taiwan University.

I've taken writing classes through UC Berkeley, the Grotto in San Francisco, Left Margin Lit in Berkeley, the Reader Berlin, Comedy Cafe Berlin, and most recently through Second City.

Screenplays

Check out my profile on Coverfly.

OUTSOURCED

In the high-pressure world of Silicon Valley where women lean in and mistakes are costly, a driven but overwhelmed postpartum venture capitalist outsources her sex life to save her marriage and family. - 30 minute dramedy


Winner of the Bellem Entertainment TV Scholarship, Semifinalist for the Austin Film Festival 2022, a semifinalist for the Stowe Story Labs Maven Fellowship, a quarterfinalists for the Cinestory Fellowship 2023, and a quarterfinalist for the Filmmatic Inroads Fellowship in 2022. 



THE DO-GOODERS

When an anxious corporate do-gooder finds the budget to her environmental program slashed, she takes matters into her own hands – literally – by teaming up with a ragtag group of climate activists to destroy the country’s fossil fuel infrastructure, one pipeline at a time. - 30 minute dramedy. 

Quarterfinalist for The Writers Lab US 2023.

TRAILING SPOUSES

When a high-achieving political consultant moves to Germany for her husband’s job, she finds an unexpected community among a group of trailing spouses. -  30 minute dramedy.

Shorts

Short films

BIRTHDAY CAKE

In this dramatic short, a grieving couple bakes a birthday cake. 





RETRIBUTION

​​In this short thriller, a cunning young woman seeks help from a vigilante known for doling out justice to abusive boyfriends.

Semifinalist for Roadmap Writer's Shorts Competition

Short Satire

Read some of my satire, please! 


Podcast Host


Listen to me interview fantastic writers like Devorah Blachor, Elizabeth Preston and Chas Gillespie, or check out the episodes where I talk to my co-hosts about writing. 

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify