Kat Gorospe Cole (she/they) is a Bay-Area based director and producer working in film and live performance.

FILM

She has been an Associate Producer for a variety of filmmakers throughout the Bay Area, including Boots Riley’s Oakland-based series I’M A VIRGO (Amazon); with Academy and Emmy award-winning directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (STATE OF PRIDE; LINDA RONDSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE); Erin Palmquist (FROM BAGHDAD TO THE BAY); Cheryl Haines (AI WEIWEI: YOURS TRULY) and James Redford (PLAYING FOR KEEPS).

Their personal works invoke subtlety and spectacle through film, performance and drag. Her short films have screened in over 25 festivals including Hot Docs, NewFest, CAAMfest, Los Angeles Asian Pacific American Film Festival, New Orleans Film Festival and Outfest. Her short narrative Maybe was awarded Best Bay Area Director from the Coven Film Festival. She holds an MFA in Film from California College of the Arts and was a fellow with the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar.

PERFORMANCE

Cole recently premiered QUAKE, an immersive performance about their dis/connection from the Ilokos region of the Philippines. The project was funded by the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, Center for Cultural Innovation, California Arts Council, Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Dancers’ Group, and received support from the Dresher Ensemble Artist Residency and ODC. She received a 2021 Individual Artist Fellow from the California Arts Council.

Along with Eric Garcia, she co-founded and co-directs the IZZIE-nominated detour dance for the past 15 years, and curated and produced the annual Tiny Dance Film Festival for the past 6 years. detour dance's short films have been screened across the globe and the company has received funding from The San Francisco Arts Commission, SF Grants for the Arts, Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, SF Weekly's Masterminds Competition, the CA$H grant, Zellerbach Family Foundation, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Horizons Foundation, and the Queer Cultural Center. Throughout her practice she finds interest in devised processes, site-specific movement and multidisciplinary collaborations.

He moonlights as the drag king Sir Acha, and has performed at for KQED, YBCA’s Bay Area Now festival, Oasis SF, The White Horse, The Stud, The Make-Out Room, OakLash, and for Vivvyanne ForeverMORE’s WorkMORE! show. IG: @sir_acha_dragking