Originally hailing from the dark heart of the American Midwest (Cincinnati, Ohio, of course) Kate’s love for media and its history began as soon as she gained unfettered access to an HBO subscription and the local FM radio dial (97X forever!) Her interests in the moving image, genre filmmaking focused on women, retro + pulp aesthetics, and the infinite possibilities of the written word were fostered throughout her time at Princeton High School, where she managed to sneak SHOWGIRLS into a banned issue of the school newspaper before graduating from the International Baccalaureate program in 2008…while also working as a pancake waitress during EVERY Sunday church rush at Bob Evans #9.

After four years at Columbia College in Chicago (where she graduated summa cum laude in the Film & Video program) Kate took Route 66 west to Los Angeles in 2012. After stints in the Chicago and Los Angeles public school systems and the script reader trenches, Kate began working for The Black List in 2013, and quite frankly, her life has never been the same since. Kate has gone from script reader to SVP at The Black List, and has worked with major brands and industry leaders like MGM, Tubi, CBS, AMC, Netflix, Hulu, MACRO, Bad Robot, Sony Pictures Animation, Warner Bros., UPS, GM and Hallmark on writer-driven partnerships and collaborations.

She also created and curates the diversity list initiative for The Black List, and works with community partners such as GLAAD, Sundance Institute, the MPAC Hollywood Bureau, CAPE, the Latin Tracking Board, 1in4 Coalition, and the Salon to highlight and celebrate diverse storytellers everywhere. Kate is also the online voice of the Black List, running the Black List Blog on Medium as well as the Black List’s social channels, which reach more than 250,000 readers. She’s also done live press from the Oscars for the last nine years - yes, she was there for THAT Best Picture moment and that other thing that happened, too. In 2024, Kate curated and co-programmed The Black List: 20 Films for 20 Years along with the American Cinematheque.

In her first decade in Hollywood, Kate has continued to cultivate many of her lifelong obsessions to become an expert on cinematic sex, physical media, awards season, and video store culture. Her piece “Beyond Nostalgia,” appears in Movie Madness: 30 Years Behind the Counter at Portland’s Iconic Video Store. Her first booklet essay, "The Great American Teen Movie," has recently been published as a part of the first-ever home video release of cult classic LITTLE DARLINGS for Vinegar Syndrome. Hagen is also a member of the advisory council for legendary video store, Vidiots, in Los Angeles and a regular contributor to Letterboxd’s Journal. And, she’s currently producing two feature films. Her book proposal, THE FINAL GIRL’S SLUMBER PARTY SURVIVAL GUIDE, is available upon request.

Beyond her life at the movies, Kate is an avid gardener, concert-goer, road-tripper, and player of Pokémon - she’s been trying to catch them all since 1999. She’s also a spooky Scorpio, an only child, a mixtape maestro, and a James Spader appreciator. Kate’s mantras for living come from her father - “Life is hard enough; don’t make it harder than it has to be,” - and Warren Zevon: “Enjoy every sandwich.”

Photo by Ivan Salazar