Katy Garretson
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
- Producer
Katy Garretson has been an award-winning DGA Director and Assistant Director for over 30 years, the last twenty+ of which mainly as a director of situation comedies. She is the recipient of the Frank Capra Lifetime Career Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America (DGA). Katy was the 26th Honoree and only the fourth woman to receive this award in the history of the DGA.
Katy was nominated for a DGA Award for Outstanding Comedy Direction for her debut episode and several of her guest stars have since been nominated for and/or received Emmy Awards. During her extensive career, she has also been an active member of the DGA - having served as an Associate National Board member, on numerous committees including her current commitment to the Directors' Council Ethics Committee. During her years as an Assistant Director, Katy was elected Chair of the AD/UPM Council for three terms, the last two terms by unanimous acclamation.
As a decades-long member of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Katy's directing credits include Two Broke Girls, Frasier, The Cool Kids, Fuller House, The Odd Couple, Young & Hungry, Reba, George Lopez, Girlfriends, Broke, Carol's Second Act, the series finale of the new Punky Brewster reboot, a bunch of other shows you've likely never heard of and "hybrids" like Titus and The Pitts. She's also directed several "tween" and children's shows, including three seasons directing the PBS Kids' show Sid the Science Kid, an animated series with The Jim Hanson Company created using motion capture and digital puppetry.
Prior to directing, Katy was an award-winning Assistant Director, being a part of a DGA-nominated team seven times. She AD'd for directors ranging from Ridley Scott and Blake Edwards in features, to James Burrows in TV. Her AD credits include Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country - the last Star Trek film with the original cast; Clifford, with Martin Short and Charles Grodin; The Specialist with Sylvester Stallone; seventeen TV movies and numerous sitcoms and pilots.
Katy also developed and produced a successful series of movies, shot in Vancouver, BC, for The Hallmark Channel. Midway through the seventeenth movie of the series, however, her star was indicted in the college admissions scandal and... that was the end of that. She also took a partial break from showbiz (2012-2016) to be the CEO/Executive Director of the "I Have a Dream" Foundation, an educational non-profit for inner-city kids.
Katy is also a long-time performer. In her teens, she was a California state finalist in public speaking and dramatic interpretation, and she continued her success through college, as an award-winning member of the USC Speech & Debate Team. Her college job as a tour guide at Universal Studios enhanced her gift of presentation. One of Katy's favorite things about being an Assistant Director on the hit TV series Frasier was being asked to fill in for the uncast guest stars during the show's eleven-year run. She also received credit for radio call-in voices for the series. Katy has been a frequent panelist, moderator and speaker at guild and industry events, and also recently hosted a hit podcast entitled Mojo Girl Madness. She's had her SAG card for decades, and may use it again someday.
Presently, Katy is also a Professor of Directing at her alma mater, the University of Southern California, in the acclaimed School of Cinematic Arts. Fight On.
Katy was nominated for a DGA Award for Outstanding Comedy Direction for her debut episode and several of her guest stars have since been nominated for and/or received Emmy Awards. During her extensive career, she has also been an active member of the DGA - having served as an Associate National Board member, on numerous committees including her current commitment to the Directors' Council Ethics Committee. During her years as an Assistant Director, Katy was elected Chair of the AD/UPM Council for three terms, the last two terms by unanimous acclamation.
As a decades-long member of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Katy's directing credits include Two Broke Girls, Frasier, The Cool Kids, Fuller House, The Odd Couple, Young & Hungry, Reba, George Lopez, Girlfriends, Broke, Carol's Second Act, the series finale of the new Punky Brewster reboot, a bunch of other shows you've likely never heard of and "hybrids" like Titus and The Pitts. She's also directed several "tween" and children's shows, including three seasons directing the PBS Kids' show Sid the Science Kid, an animated series with The Jim Hanson Company created using motion capture and digital puppetry.
Prior to directing, Katy was an award-winning Assistant Director, being a part of a DGA-nominated team seven times. She AD'd for directors ranging from Ridley Scott and Blake Edwards in features, to James Burrows in TV. Her AD credits include Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country - the last Star Trek film with the original cast; Clifford, with Martin Short and Charles Grodin; The Specialist with Sylvester Stallone; seventeen TV movies and numerous sitcoms and pilots.
Katy also developed and produced a successful series of movies, shot in Vancouver, BC, for The Hallmark Channel. Midway through the seventeenth movie of the series, however, her star was indicted in the college admissions scandal and... that was the end of that. She also took a partial break from showbiz (2012-2016) to be the CEO/Executive Director of the "I Have a Dream" Foundation, an educational non-profit for inner-city kids.
Katy is also a long-time performer. In her teens, she was a California state finalist in public speaking and dramatic interpretation, and she continued her success through college, as an award-winning member of the USC Speech & Debate Team. Her college job as a tour guide at Universal Studios enhanced her gift of presentation. One of Katy's favorite things about being an Assistant Director on the hit TV series Frasier was being asked to fill in for the uncast guest stars during the show's eleven-year run. She also received credit for radio call-in voices for the series. Katy has been a frequent panelist, moderator and speaker at guild and industry events, and also recently hosted a hit podcast entitled Mojo Girl Madness. She's had her SAG card for decades, and may use it again someday.
Presently, Katy is also a Professor of Directing at her alma mater, the University of Southern California, in the acclaimed School of Cinematic Arts. Fight On.
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