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IMDbPro

Katt Shea(I)

  • Director
  • Writer
  • Actress
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Katt Shea
Nancy Drew & the Hidden Staircase (WB) - Trailer Directed by Katt Shea
Play demo reel2:19
Nancy Drew & the Hidden Staircase (WB) - Trailer
3 Videos
7 Photos
Writer-director Katt Shea's latest movie "Rescued By Ruby" (2022) is a hugely successful Netflix original that received the highly coveted 100% Rating on Rotten Tomatoes. She balanced working with a dog as the star, a two year old toddler, 37 other dogs and animals, real canine unit members w/ principal roles and Strict Covid protocols to create a near perfect family film.

Katt has been honored by retrospectives her critically acclaimed films at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, The British Film Institute in London and various festivals throughout Europe. She also won the Silver Award for screenwriting at The Houston Film Festival and the Trailblazing Award for "inspiring a generation of young filmmakers". Katt has been profiled on the front page of The New York Times Arts & Leisure section and in a special issue of US Magazine dedicated to the role of the director in filmmaking. Critics have compared her to Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone and even Ingmar Bergman.

Andrew Sarris says of her, "I see an unusually kinetic talent combined with a flare for complex narrative. Ms. Shea does little things so well that big meanings flow out of them." Rolling Stone's Peter Travers adds, "The emotional resonance, visual sophistication and strong subtext of Shea's work fuse to create a distinctive style worth monitoring. Look at Jonathan Demme's Caged Heat, Martin Scorsese's Boxcar Bertha. Shea follows in that tradition and does it proud." New York Times writer Caryn James credits Katt with starting a new genre, about the screenings of Poison Ivy at the Sundance Film Festival she wrote: "One of the best competition films is Poison Ivy directed by Katt Shea whose previous movies were made for Roger Corman. Four of these movies will be shown at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan which says everything about the genre she and Sundance are helping to define."

Katt's first studio film, The Rage: Carrie 2, opened at # 2 at the box office, the film received rave reviews in The L.A. Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Post, The Village Voice and The Nation. Kevin Thomas of The Los Angeles Times called her "...a master of genre. Shea's ability to play various elements against one another gives "The Rage" welcome complexity and tension." Stuart Klawans of The Nation raves the Katt Shea's movies are "...remarkable for their disquieting themes, for their style (bold, fluent and varied)...Over the past dozen years only five or six American women besides Shea have managed to turn out a comparable number of commercial features...Look at he beauty and terror that Katt Shea can achieve and ask whether there's motivation today for The Rage." In recent years, the film has been discovered by younger audiences and praised for it's examination of real-life toxic masculinity & misogyny, that puts more importance on the futures of rapist boys over the dignity of teenage girls.

Katt's movies seem to set trends within the industry. Poison Ivy, which was a significant video hit and boasts the highest turns per copy in video history, inspired dozens of high profile imitators and the influence of her even her earliest low budget films, is still felt within the thriller genre. Katt's first TV Movie for CBS, called Sharing The Secret, won the prestigious Peabody Award. Airing on sweeps week, The Hollywood Reporter paid tribute: "Some first rate performances, along with Shea's fine tuned direction create Sharing The Secret's intelligent two hours." Her next TV movie, Nora Roberts' Sanctuary, is the first adaptation of a novel by the largest selling female author in history. It aired on CBS during February sweeps week. Variety said, "Director and co-screenwriter Katt Shea hits all the right beats, establishes the characters with depth and even invests the genre piece with some stylish dream sequences." ...Perhaps Peter Travers sums things up best when he says, "Why settle for a usual walk around the block when Shea offers a wild ride with the top down into un-chartered territory?"

Her Films continue to Screen to Sold out Audiences at Quentin Tarantino's New Beverly Theatre in Los Angeles, The Alamo Draft House & other Art House Cinemas across the country.

Katt is currently writing an Indie feature for production in 2023.

She is a voting member of the Academy.
BornOctober 9
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornOctober 9
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Awards

Photos7

Amy Irving, Katt Shea, Emily Bergl, and Jason London in The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)
New Line Cinema
Katt Shea
Katt Shea
Amy Irving and Katt Shea in The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)
Amy Irving and Katt Shea in The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)

Known for

Sophia Lillis in Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
5.7
  • Director
  • 2019
Drew Barrymore, Tom Skerritt, Cheryl Ladd, and Sara Gilbert in Poison Ivy (1992)
Poison Ivy
5.4
  • Director(as Katt Shea Ruben, directed by)
  • 1992
Rescued by Ruby (2022)
Rescued by Ruby
7.2
  • Director(directed by)
  • 2022
The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)
The Rage: Carrie 2
4.7
  • Director
  • 1999

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Director

  • Rescued by Ruby (2022)
    Rescued by Ruby
    • (directed by)
  • Sophia Lillis in Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
    Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
  • Melissa Gilbert and Costas Mandylor in Sanctuary (2001)
    Sanctuary
  • Sharing the Secret (2000)
    Sharing the Secret
  • The Rage: Carrie 2 - Alternate Ending (1999)
    The Rage: Carrie 2 - Alternate Ending
  • The Rage: Carrie 2 - Deleted Scenes (1999)
    The Rage: Carrie 2 - Deleted Scenes
  • The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)
    The Rage: Carrie 2
  • Last Exit to Earth (1996)
    Last Exit to Earth
  • Drew Barrymore, Tom Skerritt, Cheryl Ladd, and Sara Gilbert in Poison Ivy (1992)
    Poison Ivy
    • (as Katt Shea Ruben, directed by)
  • Streets (1990)
    Streets
  • Dance of the Damned (1989)
    Dance of the Damned
  • Stripped to Kill 2: Live Girls (1989)
    Stripped to Kill 2: Live Girls
    • (as Katt Shea Ruben)
  • Stripped to Kill (1987)
    Stripped to Kill
    • (as Katt Shea Ruben)

Writer

  • Melissa Gilbert and Costas Mandylor in Sanctuary (2001)
    Sanctuary
  • David Courtemarche and Kimberly Rowe in Rumble in the Streets (1997)
    Rumble in the Streets
    • (as Katt Shea Ruben)
  • Last Exit to Earth (1996)
    Last Exit to Earth
  • Barbara Alyn Woods in Dance with Death (1992)
    Dance with Death
    • (as Katt Shea Ruben)
  • Drew Barrymore, Tom Skerritt, Cheryl Ladd, and Sara Gilbert in Poison Ivy (1992)
    Poison Ivy
    • (as Katt Shea Ruben)
  • Streets (1990)
    Streets
    • (as Katt Shea Ruben)
  • Dance of the Damned (1989)
    Dance of the Damned
    • (as Katt Shea Ruben)
  • Stripped to Kill 2: Live Girls (1989)
    Stripped to Kill 2: Live Girls
    • (as Katt Shea Ruben)
  • Stripped to Kill (1987)
    Stripped to Kill
    • (as Katt Shea Ruben)
  • The Patriot (1986)
    The Patriot
    • (as Katt Shea Ruben)

Actress

  • Rescued by Ruby (2022)
    Rescued by Ruby
  • The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)
    The Rage: Carrie 2
  • Last Exit to Earth (1996)
    Last Exit to Earth
  • Anthony Perkins in Psycho III (1986)
    Psycho III
    • (as Katt Shea Ruben)
  • The Devastator (1986)
    The Devastator
  • Barbarian Queen (1985)
    Barbarian Queen
  • R.S.V.P. (1984)
    R.S.V.P.
  • Hollywood Hot Tubs (1984)
    Hollywood Hot Tubs
  • Preppies (1984)
    Preppies
  • Al Pacino in Scarface (1983)
    Scarface
    • (as Kathy Shea)
  • Caren Kaye and Matt Lattanzi in My Tutor (1983)
    My Tutor
    • (as Kathleen Shea)
  • The Asphalt Cowboy (1980)
    The Asphalt Cowboy
    • (as Kathy Shea)

Videos3

Nancy Drew & the Hidden Staircase (WB) - Trailer
Demo Reel 2:19
Nancy Drew & the Hidden Staircase (WB) - Trailer
The Rage: Carrie 2 (MGM/UA)
Demo Reel 2:23
The Rage: Carrie 2 (MGM/UA)
Rescued by Ruby (Netflix)
Demo Reel 1:52
Rescued by Ruby (Netflix)

Personal details

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    • Official Site
    • October 9
    • Detroit, Michigan, USA
    • Andy Ruben1979 - 1992 (divorced)
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Interviews

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Honored with MoMa retrospective in 1994.
  • Quotes
    I like every single film I've ever made -- I really do. Other people call them exploitation films, but to me what I was doing was never exploitative. I always had a strong point of view about my intention; it was never just to make money or to titillate or to horrify. I always had my purpose and I made those movies myself. I can't imagine sitting around and trying to piece together elements that I think other people want to see. That would be so boring!

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