Born and raised in South Africa, Katey Lee Carson connected with the film medium when she made her first short film, Ginger Curry. It won Best Short Film at the University of Cape Town Film Festival in 2011 and she has been making films ever since.
In 2012 another of Katey's short films, The Washing Up, was selected to screen at the Ghetto Film school showcase at the Sundance Film Festival. She was the youngest participant, at only 20, to have her work shown. Katey was then chosen as one of Africa’s top 40 up and coming filmmakers to take part in the Durban International Film Festival Talent Campus 2013 in collaboration with Berlinale Talents.
In 2013 her fiction film, Harold, won Best Short Film at the Cape Town and Winelands Film Festival and screened at various international festivals including The SHNIT International Film Festival and Africa in Motion. Katey went on to direct a theatrical production of Christopher Durang’s short plays at the Galloway Theatre and numerous documentaries and music videos, such as Painting Cape Town (official selection Durban International Film Festival) and Chain Gang (nominated for 5 awards at The Bokeh International Film Festival). In 2019, her documentary Behind The Label was selected in competition at the United Nations Association Film Festival and in 2020 her documentary, The Waste Trade, was screened at the Berlinale EFM.
Katey has been writing and developing fiction film and episodic scripts since 2014. She currently has 3 fiction projects in development with American, South African and European production houses. A Woman of her Word, a historical drama series, The Death of Maria a coming of age comedy, set between New York and Italy and Sunnydale, a South African dark comedy, staring Ellen Burstyn.