Kathryn Pasternak

Kathryn Pasternak serves as a Lecturer of Video Production in the Department of Art within the Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art at Catholic University of America. With over 25 years of professional experience in television production, independent filmmaking, and interactive media, she brings extensive industry knowledge to her academic role.

Her research interests focus on Video Production and Post-Production, Documentary Filmmaking, and Multimedia Exhibit Production. Specializing in wildlife, conservation, and cultural films, Pasternak approaches storytelling with an emphasis on making science accessible and engaging. Her expertise spans wildlife and natural history storytelling, content research, directing, interviewing, and editorial refinement.

Pasternak has received significant recognition for her work, including two National Emmy Awards for Best Science and Nature Program and two additional Emmy nominations. Her award-winning independent feature documentary Doeville premiered at the DC Environmental Film Festival in 2015 and has since screened internationally. More recently, she produced three multimedia exhibits for an international traveling exhibition on Ramses the Great.

Her professional journey includes 16 years at National Geographic Television working on high-end television programs for international distribution. Following her time at National Geographic, she lived on a wildlife reserve in Zimbabwe for a year while writing and producing a series for Animal Planet. Pasternak Media LLC, her production company, creates documentary, wildlife, and conservation media ranging from independent documentaries to high-end television programming and interactive museum exhibits.

She has lived and worked professionally in New York, Los Angeles, Johannesburg, and Washington DC, bringing a global perspective to her teaching. An Edmonton, Alberta native, Pasternak graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Fine Arts before settling in the Washington, DC area.