[smart_track_player url=”<<enclosure url=”https://traffic.libsyn.com/forcedn/allanmckay/Ep.441_Kat_Montagu.mp3″ length=”3733″ type=”audio/mpeg”></enclosure></enclosure>” title=”441 – Writer, Producer & Head of Writing at Vancouver Film School Kat Montagu” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]
Episode 441 – Writer, Producer & Head of Writing at Vancouver Film School Kat Montagu
Kat Montagu is the Head of Writing for Film, Television and Games Program at the Vancouver Film School. She has taught for over 20 years in VFS’s Writing and Film Production Departments. Her Career Launch class has prepared countless VFS graduates to work on feature films, in the writers’ rooms of tv series and in video game studios. Kat has been named a VFS Instructor of the Year three times.
Kat is also the author of the best stilling book The Dreaded Curse: Screenplay Formatting for Film and Television. This twist on the how-to guide demonstrates best practices through a riotous story of two witches loosely inspired by her own family history, and is used to teach screenwriting at film schools and universities globally.
She is also the Senior Story Editor for Crazy8s and produced many short films and co-produced indie feature film THE PRODIGAL DAD.
In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Kat Montagu, the Head of Writing at the Vancouver Film School – as well as Writer and Producer – about finding passion for writing, the importance of the emotional journey in every story, what makes for a compelling story, why every department in film and tv production is involved in storytelling; as well as her own writing and teaching career at the Vancouver Film School.
Link to THE DREADED CURSE by Kat Montagu: https://www.threeoceanpress.com/all-titles/the-dreaded-curse
Kat Montagu at Vancouver Film School: https://vfs.edu/news/2023/05/05/faculty-news-qa-with-vfss-new-head-of-writing-for-film-television-games-program-kat
Kat Montagu on IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1086155/
EPISODE 441 – WRITER, PRODUCER & HEAD OF WRITING AT VFS – KAT MONTAGU
Hi, everyone!
This is Allan McKay. Welcome to Episode 441!
I’m interviewing Writer, Producer & Head of Writing at Vancouver Film School Kat Montagu. For those of you that think this Episode isn’t for because you’re in visual effects, you have to realize that story is everywhere. If you can tell a compelling story – or at least, understand the structure – you’ll benefit immensely.
Kat and I talk about a lot of cool stuff, like:
- Kat’s pursuit of her own writing career;
- Falling in love with the craft of writing;
- The inspiration behind her book The Dreaded Curse: Screenplay Formatting for Film & Television;
- Her teaching career at Vancouver Film School;
- How writing for tv differs from writing for a video game IP;
- Why every department in film production is part of storytelling;
- The importance of the emotional journey in every story;
- What makes for a compelling story;
- Why a 3-act story is just a starting point;
- And so much more!
I loved this Episode so much, I’ve already lined up more interviews with Kat.
Please take a moment to share this Episode with others. That would mean so much!
Let’s dive in!
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FROM ALLAN McKAY:
[59:24] One of the biggest problems we face as artists is figuring out how much we’re worth. I’ve put together a website. Check it out: www.VFXRates.com! This is a chance for you to put in your level of experience, your discipline, your location — and it will give you an accurate idea what you and everyone else in your discipline should be charging. Check it out: www.VFXRates.com!
Okay, what did you think? I want to thank Kat for joining the Podcast. This was an absolute blast!
Next week, I’m interviewing the Founder and Director of Infinite-Realities Lee Perry-Smith. This one you cannot miss if you’re into photogrammetry, body scanning, digital humans, NERFs. This one is going to be a big one! I also found this Episode to be pretty hands-on and by the end, you’ll have a list of technology to attack.
Until next week –
Rock on!
Click here to listen on iTunes!
Upload The Productive Artist e-book.
Allan McKay’s Facebook Fanpage.
Allan McKay’s YouTube Channel.