Katherine Press is an actor, writer, director and producer. Born in Bristol, she left home aged 16 to attend professional ballet school in London, graduating aged 19 with a BA in Dance Performance. Subsequently studying for a BA in History of Art at the University of Cambridge, she was spotted by an agent and started acting professionally, with roles ranging from classic British television to Marvel movies and West End theatre. 

Prestigious voice work followed: Margaret Atwood's Booker Prize-winning sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, The Testaments, for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime; the Unabridged Jane Eyre for BBC Classic Stories; and the Costa Children's Book Award-winning The Skylarks' War (Pan Macmillan).

Curious about life on the other side of the camera, in 2017 Katherine took an MA in Film & Television at Falmouth University, during which time she was a winner of the University Women in the Arts mentoring scheme, supported by the Women of the Future Programme. Her first screenplay, The Screening, was shortlisted for the BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Competition, and she was recruited to work for John Yorke (ex-Controller of BBC Drama, MD of Company Pictures, and Head of Drama at Channel 4) at his screenwriting company, John Yorke Story.

Whilst still a student, Katherine's first producing project was shortlisted for the Grierson Awards, and her next, A Noble Truth, was financed by the BFI Short Film Fund. In 2018 she was selected as an Emerging Producer by BFI Network, and invited to their 2019 Producer Lab. Since then, her productions have been longlisted for the BIFAs, screened at Oscar, BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying festivals including LSFF, Brussels, Encounters and Aesthetica, and have been supported by charities including the Samaritans.

Katherine's first project as Writer/Director, Help! I've Stolen Amy Adams' Nose!, starring Michael Maloney, was completed in January 2022. It was selected to screen at Bristol's Watershed Cinema as part of their upcoming filmmaker showcase, and won Best Comedy at its first festival and Best Low Budget Film at its second. It has gone on to win both British Comedy Guide Pro’s Production Award, and the Audience Choice Award at Exit 6 Film Festival, plus multiple other Best Comedy and Best Actress awards, to be shortlisted for Performance Film & Media’s Short Film Competition, and to be selected for the BIFA-qualifying The Shortest Nights and Sunderland Shorts, amongst others. Her next, Reaching Four, starring Ben Lamb and Pippa Haywood, and supported by OCD UK, premiered in New York at Peekskill Film Festival and won Best Drama at Anatolia International Film Festival. Best Of Three, funded by the Talkies Short Film Commission, was Shortlisted for the Funny Women Awards, and won Best UK Short at Pigeon Laughs International Comedy Festival. She has just completed Poppet, a collaboration with Josh Elwell (Lead Puppeteer, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared, Jim Henson Company, Dr Who), starring Vincent Franklin and Sarah Keyworth, which reached the Finals of The Pitch Film Fund 2023.

Katherine is a member of BAFTA Connect, and a BAFTA and BFI Film Academy Mentor.