Kate Parkin

Kate is a Los Angeles based actress and singer/songwriter. Kate creates music videos and comedic sketches under the alias of weasleysweaters, her Harry Potter superfan alter-ego. Her videos - ranging from Harry Potter themed musical parodies to original songs - have been seen by millions. A classically trained musician, she performs her original music in Los Angeles with a regular gig at Molly Malone's. A company member of The New American Theatre Company in Los Angeles, Kate has taken the stage for several productions including A Midsummer Night's Dream (as Helena, Odyssey Theatre - directed by Jack Stehlin, dramaturg Alfred Molina). She also appeared in playwright Lojo Simon's The Legend of Dora as Dora Maar, Picasso's muse (and an artist in her own right), at the Laguna Beach City Art Walk. She starred in Emilia with Angela Gulner, directed by Hugo Pierre Martin, a film tackling the darkness of domestic violence, using text from Othello. The film was an official entry at the Stratford-upon-Avon Shakespeare On Film Festival. Her film, juliet, a modern millenial take on Romeo & Juliet, which she directed/starred in, was an official selection for the same festival. After receiving messages from young girls when her Harry Potter videos went viral, Kate began to realize the impact of media on young people. Kate launched the snapchat *IfSheCanSeeIt* for the Geena Davis Institute in 2016 and continues to snapchat events to share on their facebook page, as well as through her own channels. She's proud to represent the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, an organization dedicated to the idea of: if she can see it, she can be it! The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (seejane.org) is dedicated to making children's entertainment gender-balanced. Through extensive research, the institute is paving the way for inclusive programming in Hollywood. An activist for gender equality, Kate worked on digital marketing for the documentary Equal Means Equal directed by Kamala Lopez. The documentary aims to educate on the need for the Equal Rights Amendment to be ratified in the United States to give women equal rights under federal law. Kate is a Cum Laude graduate of Ithaca College in New York. She studied Shakespeare in London, attended a workshop series at Shakespeare's Globe and received her Stage Combat Certification by the Society of American Fight Directors. She interned at The Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, UK, where she assisted with the Shakespeare education & outreach program and launched their twitter account. She is an alumni of The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Theater Institute, and trained at the St. Petersburg Theatre Arts Academy in Russia through the same program.