We were lucky to catch up with Kate Robards recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kate, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you ever had an amazing boss, mentor or leader leading you? Can you us a story or anecdote that helps illustrate why this person was such a great leader and the impact they had on you or their team?

My most recent boss, Maria Perez-Brown, is absolutely incredible. She’s spent more than thirty years in the Entertainment Industry where she’s not only worked as an executive and mastermind of legal workings and deals, but she’s created and produced shows like GULLAH GULLAH ISLAND and TAINA (which was the first Latina multi-cam kids show). Both shows continue to resonate and have a large fan base. She was brought in to create the Kids and Family department at TIME Studios, and taught me how crucial it is to understand legal contracts and packaging TV and film projects. But most importantly, she taught me that when you’re making a deal whether it’s optioning a book or existing IP, or partnering with another production company, or selling a concept to a network, that you should not only think of what your goals are, but also consider what the other party is looking for so that everyone can benefit. Plus she just knew how to roll with the punches. This career is not linear and while so many aspects of it can seem out-of-our-hands, we can only control our work ethic, attitude, and how we treat people. Maria always gave others their props and I know the years I spent working under her will serve me for the rest of my career.

Kate, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m from a small, rural, bayou town on the Texas/Louisiana border. My experiences growing up there have shaped my world view. I stayed nearby for college, but since I left, I’ve lived and worked around the world. Amsterdam, Washington D.C., Shanghai, San Francisco, and now New York. Still, my connectedness to my hometown remains.

I was raised by a single mom whose family has been in my hometown since the 1830’s. She really believes in community and the adage that it takes a village to raise a kid. At the same time, resources didn’t ever make me think I’d be able to leave and live around the world and work in the arts, but she encouraged me to give it a go.

I’ve done so many jobs to support myself while always trying to be as close to the making of art as possible. The great thing about a creative career is that you’ll use everything you learn. I’ve worked in theatre PR and marketing at The Studio Theatre. I’ve worked at an international ad agency, and I’ve worked at a legacy media company. In between those corporate stints, I’ve been able to work freelance on projects as an artist.

I spent several years getting an MFA and making art which is of course worthwhile and rewarding, but now that I’m coming off on working on the development side of the industry, it’s exciting to apply my understanding of network mandates, and what different streamers are looking for so that I can create work that has a commercial appeal. Art and commerce can go together, and cracking the code for selling my own scripts is an endeavor I relish.

The other thing about working for yourself is that you somehow end up putting in even more work than you would’ve otherwise.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

When NFT’s were really popping off, TIME Studios optioned some of the art and concepts to create TV shows around them. One in particular, by the insanely talented Pablo Stanley, continues to capture my imagination. I think people who aren’t super connected to the Web3 movement may discount them or think of them as “anti-art,” but in the case of someone like Pablo, he’s both an artist, creator, world-builder, and he’s found an active online community that supports his work. That’s something we can all aspire to.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

While sometimes our own resources may seem slim, there are so many ways to support artists. You can follow them online, subscribe to their email lists, and share the word with friends. The other thing I’m a big believer in is that to create a generous creative community, you have to be generous yourself. Share information freely. Find creative communities of people who want to create art, in my case either theatre, live performance events or television and film projects. Everyone has different skills and knowledge so when you share your expertise, you can all reap larger rewards. Plus, creating your own projects with like-minded individuals gives YOU the power so you’re not sitting around waiting for someone else to make a project happen. A broader way society can support artists, is by merely respecting their contributions to society and culture beyond ones that have economic value, as money doesn’t always equal merit or quality.

Contact Info:

• Website: katearobards.com
• Instagram: @katerobards
• Facebook: @katerobards
• Linkedin: @katerobards
• Twitter: @katerobards
• Youtube: @katerobards

Image Credits
Kate Robards