Katie Bender (filmmaker)
| Katie Bender | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Kate Rebecca Bender 5 October 1985 |
| Residence | Melbourne, Australia |
| Education | Film & Digital Media Studies (FIDM) |
| Occupation | Documentary filmmaker |
Katie Bender (born 5 October 1985) is an Australian film producer, and director. She made her feature-length directing debut with the 2016 documentary The Will To Fly about Australian Olympic freestyle skier gold medalist Lydia Lassila.
Early life
Bender attended Methodist Ladies College, a private girls school in Victoria, Melbourne. She is a former gymnast and freestyle skier and trained on the Australian freestyle aerial ski team. After retiring from professional sport due to injury, Bender then began film and digital media studies at The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) based in Los Angeles, California. After graduation she began working in the movie trailer industry at Trailer Park Inc, a motion picture marketing firm in Hollywood.
Film
The Will To Fly
Bender was the producer and director of the 2016 feature documentary The Will To Fly about Australian Olympic freestyle skier gold medalist Lydia Lassila. Bender is an ex-teammate of Lydia Lassila, and was inspired to make "The Will To Fly" in 2012 whilst visiting Lydia at a training camp in Utah. Lydia was current defending Olympic champion at the time and had just returned to the sport as a first time mother. Bender realised the potential for a feature-length film when Lydia explained her sporting aspirations to narrow the gap between male and female capabilities by performing a 'quad triple twisting, triple somersault' at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.[1][2][3]
The film was quoted “The most inspirational movie of the year” by The Huffington Post.[4]
Filmography
| Year | Film | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | The Will To Fly |  |
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References
- ↑ Bizzaca, Caris. "With her history in women's sport, aerial skier turned filmmaker Katie Bender became the perfect person to tell Lydia Lassila's inspirational story". Screen Australia: The Screen Blog. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
- ↑ "Victorian creative team Katie Bender and Leo Baker are soaring to great heights with their project The Will to Fly, released nationally on 10 March.". Film Victoria Australia. Film Victoria. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
- ↑ Saurine, Angela. "Winter Olympian Lydia Lassila stars in new ski film The Will To Fly". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- ↑ Sharwood, Anthony. "The Will To Fly Featuring Australian Aerial Skier Lydia Lassila Is The Most Inspirational Movie Of The Year". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 12 March 2016.