Kathryn Dietz
Producer
Biography
I have had a long career in the world of independent filmmaking, working primarily as a producer but also a writer, director, executive producer, conference and festival director, and educator. I co-founded Ambrica Productions in New York City and over my 23-year tenure there, I produced eight feature-length documentaries, including five on modern China, and biographies of Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Pickford. Next I became Executive Director of Filmmakers Collaborative, where I organized two national Making Media Now conferences and co-founded the Boston International Kids Film Festival with Laura Azevedo.
After a three-year stint at Tufts University where I was a Visiting Artist developing a series of short films about teens and adults on the autism spectrum, I returned to filmmaking and for the last ten years have been writing, producing, and executive producing projects with other filmmakers. I executive produced Michal Goldman’s film, “Nasser’s Republic, The Making of Modern Egypt,” and Asaf Galay’s film “The Adventures of Saul Bellow,” which won a Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film and premiered on PBS/American Masters in 2022.
Asaf Galay have worked together ever since. In 2019 we began production on “Cartoon Kings” about five Jewish brothers from NY who were inventors, artists, and pioneers of America’s animation industry. Their iconic cartoons, including Popeye, Betty Boop, and Superman, continue to inspire generations of artists. With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, our original intention was to make a one-hour film for PBS, but it grew into a six-episode series that is now in post production. In September 2024 it won the grand prize in the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film!
We have a new three-hour series in the works: “Gutter Art: Making American Comics.” It is about comic books, comic strips, graphic novels, and the explosion of this art form that cannot be contained.
I also teach, as an Affiliated Faculty of Emerson College and previously at Tufts University and the Mass College of Art & Design. I enjoy sharing my expertise with the next generation, and I always learn from them, too.
Films
The Snow Ball (2016)
Role: Director
This short film features middle and high school boys who plan a dance as part of a social skills and friendship building class. I love the way it encourages “invisible skills” like cooperation and making friends.
Official selection: Boston International Kids Film Festival
Team of Brothers (2017)
Role: Director
This story features Jenna, who struggled with OCD, Tourette Syndrome, and a life-threatening peanut allergy. All through school she had no friends, and her parents, also disabled, did not know how to help her. When she was diagnosed with autism at age 14, it opened doors to her. She was invited to skate on the East Coast Jumbos, a disability hockey team where she was the only female — and where she found a community of brothers. I was drawn to Jenna’s story because girls on the spectrum can easily fall through the cracks. I was also interested to see how families with limited means manage, especially when dealing with multiple disabilities.
Official selection: Audience Awards, Boston International Kids Film Festival, Boston Short Film Festival, and Azalea Film Festival.
Targeting Cancer: The Story of Leukemia (2012)
Role: Producer, Director, Writer
This short film is part of the 3-part series, “Getting Better: 200 Years of Medicine,” commissioned by the New England Journal of Medicine. I produced the series with filmmaker Nancy Porter, and was writer, director, and producer of this 2nd film, “Targeting Cancer,” which looks at breakthroughs in cancer research and the first-ever cure for one kind of leukemia.
Nasser's Republic, the Making of Modern Egypt (2016)
Role: Executive Producer
I was executive producer and helped write funding proposals for this documentary by FC filmmaker Michal Goldman. It was completed in 2016, and has shown to sold-out crowds on the festival circuit worldwide.
The Adventures of Saul Bellow (2017)
Role: Executive Producer
I am an executive producer of this film by director Asaf Galay, which premiered on PBS/American Masters in 2022 and was a winner of the Library of Congress/Lavine Ken Burns Prize for Film.
Cartoon Kings (2024)
Role: Producer
Director Asaf Galay and I started production on this flm in 2019, paused 18 months during the pandemic, and then turned it into a six-episode series that is now in post production. It features the Fleischer brothers of New York, fierce competitors of Walt Disneyand creators of popular and edgy cartoons including KoKo the Clown, Betty Boop, Popeye, and Superman. Their work was urban, edgy, and very funny, and inspired generations of America’s top animators, all of whom are interviewees in the film.
Recently the series won First Prize in the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film.
Big Little Town: The Story of Needham (2012)
Role: Producer, Director, Writer
I made this film for the town of Needham’s 300th anniversary, never imagining the rich and funny history of my town! It was my first foray into the world of community access media, and a mostly terrific experience. The film has been broadcast on WGBH Boston numerous times, as a Fourth of July special, and seen locally in Needham and Wellesley – which used to be West Needham!
Young & Restless in China (2008)
Role: Producer
A 2-hour film exploring the values, trials and successes of young Chinese professionals, which premiered theatrically and on PBS Frontline in 2008. I produced it while at Ambrica Productions, a company I co-owned with filmmaker Sue Williams for 23 years.
Mary Pickford (2005)
Role: Producer
This 90-minute portrait of the silent era film superstar premiered on PBS American Experience in 2005.
Time of Fear (2004)
Role: Producer
A one-hour film about Japanese American internment camps in Arkansas during WWII, which premiered on Arkansas PBS in 2004 and nationally in 2005.
China in the Red (2004)
Role: Producer
A 2-hour film for PBS Frontline, exploring how ordinary people raised under the “iron rice bowl” were coping with China’s evolving capitalism.
Eleanor Roosevelt (2000)
Role: Producer
This 2.5 hour documentary on the former first lady premiered on PBS American Experience and is still one of their most popular biographical portraits.
CHINA: A Century of Revolution (1989)
Role: Producer
This 6-hour series provide a sweeping and dramatic account of China’s 20th century history. The films have been seen in over 25 countries, have won numerous prestigious industry awards, and are still in educational and home video distribution through Zeitgeist Films in NY. The films of this series are:
China in Revolution (1911-1949)
The Mao Years (1949-1976)
Born Under the Red Flag (1976-1997)
Making Nature Accessible (2016)
Role: Director
I was hired by Mass Audubon to make this short film about accessible trails across their state properties. They call them “All Persons Trails,” and make the experience of walking outdoors, feeling the sunshine and hearing the birds, accessible to all.
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