Meet The Team | Katie Kemp
Welcome to the latest instalment of our meet the team series, which, as the title implies will dive into the background of the amazing people that make up The Finish Line. Meet Katie Kemp who joined us last month!
Katie arrived into this world in the northern seaside town of Cleethorpes. Upon reaching her early teens Katie knew that she wanted to work in media but this meant heading further afield than ever before. Early interest in radio led her to work experience in BBC Radio Norwich (no sign of Alan Partridge though) and it turned out that helping to edit show trails on ¼” tape was much more of a highlight to the week than talking down the microphone. Although talking was, and still is, an interest of hers.
Katie then embarked on a science degree at the University of Sunderland which was a split between the production of various media formats as well as the engineering behind it, covering everything from oscilloscopes to the mathematics proving the Nyquist theorem. Although fascinated by the technical aspects, she most enjoyed the occasions when it was possible to jump into the VHS to VHS edit suite. The university newspaper, Universal Post, also took her on as a photographer and features editor. The paper was recognised with the NUS/Guardian Impact Award during this time.
In 1997 she was more than ready to take on London and moved to begin her career as a runner for a well established post house. In less than a year, under the teachings of some of the most experienced and knowledgeable people in the business, she was in the machine room and eager for the next step. Progression led through edit assistant roles to full time editor in both the linear suites and offline Avids. As technology moved on, so did she dividing her time between the craft of offline (including being sent to Jamaica for one memorable edit) and the recently arrived Symphony with all its new capabilities and features.
Since then Katie has moved a couple of times between Soho and Noho across the invisible dividing line of Oxford Street. During this time she has accumulated an eclectic credit list in all genres, from current affairs to entertainment and documentaries to studio. The Finish line now provides the perfect balance between a shared team knowledge and getting out there and doing the job she enjoys. This life also means she gets to actually spend more time outside, camping, ‘festivalling’, snowboarding and almost certainly drinking gin. Probably with a cheese based snack.
We asked Katie what advice she would give to her younger self to which she replied:
If someone tells you something is impossible don’t assume they’re right, ask questions, be nice, keep learning, admit when you’re wrong, listen to advice but make your own choices, share your knowledge, mostly things will figure themselves out and when they don’t just move on… but, younger self, you’ll learn all that along the way, so just get out there and do what you do. Life is a big old ride, enjoy it all!