CCA MFA WRITING
San Francisco
Kate Robards '16
Katherine (Kate) Robards is an award winning writer, actor, comedian. She was a contributing writer for the TIME 100 Gala (2022) on ABC which was hosted by Simu Liu, and in 2021 she co-wrote a variety special with music and sketches for Facebook Shop with host Phoebe Robinson. She's also written for acclaimed comics and personalities like Kathy Griffin (2019 Shorty Awards) JB Smoove (2020 Shorty Awards), Busy Phillips, Stacey Abrams, Lizzo, and others as script writer for Bustle Rule Breakers(2019).
Her plays have been heralded as “hilarious and heartbreaking” by the Washington Post and as "genuinely funny" with "wry wit" by The San Francisco Chronicle. Her screenplays and TV scripts continue to garner attention; Sundance New Voices Lab Finalist (2019 TV pilot), Austin Film Fest (2022 comedy short), Stage 32 Comedy Feature Screenplay Quarterfinalist (2023), Women's Comedy Film Festival in Atlanta (2023 selected screenplay) and many more.
Her work as an artist is buoyed by her experience in theatre (Studio Theatre, Cutting Ball, Fogg Theatre), advertising (Mcgarrybowen) and TV and film (TIME Studios). She has a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from California College of the Arts, is a UCB alumni, and a current member of the Barrow Group Theatre Company in New York City and the Dramatist Guild of America.
Since 2018 she has served on the Vineyard Theatre 'Council' (Junior Board) in New York City. In the past she has served as a Creative Producer and Board Member for FOGG Theatre, and a Board Member for The Cutting Ball Theatre, both in San Francisco. She was a co-founder of Strawberry Milk; a stand-up comedy production company that partnered with brands like HBO, Converse, and Giphy to create communities around unforgettable live moments.
As a comic and theatre artist she has toured the country and internationally with her trilogy of award-winning solo plays. She's performed standup at numerous comedy festivals like SF Sketchfest (2020) and Oak City Comedy Festival. She has received artist residencies at Hedgebrook, Byrdcliffe, Cherry Valley, Drop Forge and Tool, and taught master classes at University of Tennessee Chattanooga, and has received notable artist grants from Theatre Bay Area and The Jerome Foundation.
Why Did You Choose CCA?
I knew I wanted to be in the Bay Area so that limited where I was looking. After auditing a MFA writing class at CCA, I realized I really wanted to delve into the art school vibe. While the writing program is small, there’s the chance to cross pollinate with other MFA classes. I especially loved my writing classes with students who were studying architecture, furniture making, or visual arts because they were able to respond to aspects of literature in the artistry of their discipline. For example, a furniture maker created a coffee table based off of the intricate designs of Madame Bovary’s casket and set it in resin. I also love that CCA is an intimate program where students get to work one-on-one with teachers every semester.
Advice for Current Students?
Have fun. Don’t take any assignment for granted. You’re so lucky to get to read that book, write those papers, and have fellow writers take your work seriously. You will miss this immensely. The other thing I recommend is to make the program work for you. In my class, there were two other playwrights; Zoe Young, Vanessa Flores, and myself. We loved writing plays for workshops, but felt that we needed and deserved to stage a professional production, so we partnered with a curatorial MFA student at CCA and found a way to work with her to put up a night of three one-act-plays in their Orange Box space. We worked with CCA visual artists to create sets. This was not in our curriculum but it was an extraordinary experience that we took on collaboratively with other departments. Come with your ideas and don’t be afraid to go for it.
What's Next for You?
I’m workshopping a play I wrote at Soho Playhouse Dec. 2nd- 16th. With live performance, you can see exactly if people are on board for the ride, or not. I also have a monthly stand-up show at The Stand and I perform at several other clubs regularly. For my “day job,” I work in development at TIME Studios; the new television and film division of the iconic magazine. I say “day job” because it’s the entertainment industry, so it’s not a typical nine-to-five. I work whenever the job calls, but I get to be creative and write and collaborate with talents that have penetrated the cultural zeitgeist while also collecting a steady paycheck. I, of course, plan to publish a book or three, and write and create tv and film projects of my own… you know, the same stuff we all want, right?