Previously, she served as producer of the Catalyst Initiative at the Sundance Institute where she shepherded projects such as Morgan Neville’s Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Yance Ford’s Strong Island, and Ryan White’s The Keepers. Katie has worked extensively in nonfiction production for such networks as A&E, PBS, Discovery, TLC and HBO. She began her career on Martin Scorsese’s The Blues, before working at the PBS series P.O.V., television’s longest-running showcase for independent nonfiction films.

This Machine was established by documentary pioneer R.J. Cutler whose credits include The War Room, American High, A Perfect Candidate, The September Issue, Listen to Me Marlon, Dear…, and Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry. This Machine focuses on filmmaker-driven feature documentaries and series run by Elise Pearlstein, EVP of Documentaries, formerly of Participant where she oversaw the company’s robust slate of documentaries from development to release, including the 2020 Oscar®-winning American Factory. This Machine explores the times in which we live through nonfiction storytelling in all media.

This Machine is looking to engage with filmmakers of all stripes on compelling, character-driven feature-length and episodic projects that run-the-gamut thematically. This Machine can invest in and support filmmakers in various capacities, depending on each project’s needs, including but not limited to development through production services.