Confidence is key and to Speak Up! You have to have the confidence to speak up for yourself. There has been times where I did not advocate for myself and did not end up with the outcome I intended to get. When I say Confidence is key, I mean it. When you walk into a room, act like you belong there because you do. You wouldn’t be in the position you’re in if it wasn’t for the hard work you did to be there.
A successful moment so far would have to be this chapter of my life. I feel like I have experienced the most wins in this era of life because I decided that at the end of 2020 that there would be changes I had to make to fully step into myself and allow myself to be open to new experiences, I think that is the only way you grow as a person.
My biggest concern would probably be to make sure that I stay authentic and real to not only myself but to those who are around me and to those who are going to watch content that I’m apart of. I think it’s easy to lose yourself in this industry when you have all these society rules telling you who and what to be, trying to compare yourself to those who maybe a step further than you are. I think it is important to stay true to who I am.
I am woman of faith, so in my church I was volunteering as the videographer. One Sunday the children’s church director at the time asked me if I could put together a video for International Women’s Day and that opened me up to editing which I thought was not my strongest skill at the time but something told me to just trust my gut and with in the next week I was able to create a tribute that everyone was proud of and the feeling that I had that day was something I will never forget.
I decided to work in the industry because as a little kid I was always intrigued by the entertainment industry but never knew it could be something I could pursue as a career, so I started to keep track of the shows and films i enjoyed, with that I made a list of actors to follow so I can study their performance. One time my family and I were indulging in our Friday movie night and I was able to recognize and name a least 4 actors in the film, my mom asked me how do you know all these actors? I told her about how I had the list and she was like, I think you should get into the film and television industry. I attended schools that catered a pathway for entertainment production. The only issues i was having with this industry specifically in the casting department was that there was not a lot of people of color that I related to. As a Casting Director or Casting Assistant I want to make sure that I am pushing real diversity to the forefront of any project I have the opportunity to work on.
Developing my adult animation series Tales From Pussy Willow for broadcast. It started off as short form sketch comedy but in the Berlinale Talent Lab I worked to develop it into more long form episodes. It works with comedy as cultural commentary through the female lens with a hint of British absurdity! Am looking to connect with any animation/comedy producers so reach out if you’re interested in hearing more!
On IG: @katejessopfilm, www.katejessop.co.uk
This is kind of an accidental collection but I have a thing for metallic footwear (rose gold is my favourite)! I’m a keen gardener and always go into charity shops looking for plant pots and come out with another pair of metallic footwear!
Turn up, be reliable, be good to people.
When in recovery I won a bunch of awards for my comedy series then it was selected for development in the Berlinale Talent Lab also with myself as a director. I subsequently signed 5 distribution deals for my film work.
The lack of development of adult animation within the UK, currently there is only a Children’s Animation industry. The last time we had an adult animation series produced in the UK was Crapston Villa’s in the 90’s written and directed by Sarah Ann Kennedy. This was also the last time any animation series in the UK was directed by a woman.