Kate McCarthy is a writer/director based in Los Angeles, from San Francisco. She graduated from the AFI Conservatory in 2024 with an MFA in Directing. Kate’s AFI thesis film THE HICKS HAPPY HOUR premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Festival and won a Student Emmy for Best Comedy. The film also played at Raindance Film Festival, WME’s FutureFest, and was nominated for a Student BAFTA. Prior to AFI, Kate’s 2022 debut short LOOK, MIRA was described by Vulture as “a stylishly bittersweet coming-of-age comedy in the Todd Solondz–Wes Anderson mold that’s bursting with color and idiosyncrasy.” The film is now streaming on Directors Notesand NoBudge.

Prior to film altogether, Kate was a theater nerd at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, and a comedy nerd at internships for SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, CONAN, FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE, and The Second City.