Kate Dunn Kennedy

Kate was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Chatham, New Jersey where her family owned and operated the historic renowned Parrot Mill Inn, circa 1780, which proved to be an especially creative environment. Kennedy would call it "pure entertainment" being constantly surrounded by an array of impressive and colorful world travelers lodging at the Inn. She relocated to nearby New York City to study painting, drawing and sculpture at Marymount Manhattan College graduating with a BFA degree in Fine and Applied Arts. Kennedy then moved to Boston for post grad studies in Art History at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Kennedy returned to New York City starting work at Ogilvy & Mather as an Art Buyer. Although at the time, she was primarily surrounded by still photography, her main interest was always in film. Kennedy began her Casting Director career in 1993, with Amy Tan on The Joy Luck Club (1993) directed by Wayne Wang as an uncredited, location casting assistant. Shortly after her next film When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), she received her first major Casting Director gig and relocated to Los Angeles to work with Neal H. Moritz and Bruce Mellon at Original Film from 1994-2000, casting for major Music Videos for MTV and BMI Music. Kennedy has worked with M.C. Hammer, Dave Matthews, Jakob Dylan, RuPaul, Rage Against the Machine, Matchbox Twenty, Matthew Sweet, Michael Jackson, Bush, Eve 6 and Shaquille O'Neal with directors John Hillcoat, Roman Coppola, Michael Bay and Scott Kalvert, to name a few.

In the following years, Kennedy opened Kennedy Casting Studio on Cahuenga Boulevard, Los Angeles and began to focus primarily on casting film, television and commercials working with many of the world's leading directors, including Ron Howard, Lawrence Kasanoff, Oliver Stone, Herbert Ross, Jay Roach,Miloš Forman, Joel Schumacher, Frank Marshall, Luis Mandoki, Steven E. de Souza, Ron Howard, Tim Burton, Frank Oz, Sean Penn, Bobby Roth, Paul W.S. Anderson, Carl Franklin, among others.

In 2005, Kate Kennedy launched PeachCraft Academy of Dramatic Arts, Creative Voice and Filmmaking, an Artist Development and Production Studio training actors in Script Analysis, Audition Technique & Filmmaking. The talent booked Episodics, Feature Films and National Commercials for Network and Streaming platforms as well as Broadway leading and supporting roles. The Production Studio produced 54 Short Films with an outstanding band of creatives including Andy Breckman, Kranti Pally and Craig Newman. All of the films were selected to compete in festivals. The filmmaking students went on to NYU Film School, USC Film and are working filmmakers to this day. She also has produced 12 musicals.

After training in the Michael Chekhov Technique with the famed American actress and Michael Chekhov Executrix, Mala Powers, who was considered a leading authority on his acting techniques, Kate continued her career as an Acting Coach with a focus on Script Analysis and Audition Technique opening Kate Kennedy Studio, West Coast 1994, East Coast, 2005. Instagram handle @katekennedystudio.

As of 2026 Kate continues to produce Films & TV as well as coach Script Analysis and Audition Technique for actors, directors and screenwriters. Based in a brownstone in downtown, Summit, New Jersey. Everyone is welcome.