Kate McCoid

A working class girl from Essex, Kate has established herself in the VFX and Editorial department in Feature film and Television over the last eight years, working on titles such as; Detective Pikachu, The French Dispatch & Disney’s upcoming The Little Mermaid. It’s Not Custard is Kate’s debut short as Writer/Director. Custard screened in the midnight shorts SXSW 2019, won Sickest Film at Bizzaroland 2018 and was featured in Channel 4’s Random Acts 2019 programme.

Alter Films

It's Not Custard

Q & A

Name a Sci-Fi or Horror character you relate to on a spiritual/personal level?

Michael Myers. I also refuse to run anywhere.

Do you consider yourself part of the sci-fi or horror community?

Absolutely my love I do. I haven't been around in the horror community as long as some of my mates have, but I love it here, I love the people in it and I bloody love the films.

When you’re creating the props and sets that make a new world, where do you look for inspiration? How do you create objects that are relatable but unfamiliar?

I watch other short films with similar uses of SFX, message the filmmakers directly and talk to them about it. I also go through SFX websites to see who has created similar work before. I also currently love playing around with prompts on MidJourney and creating disgusting concepts.

You’ve gotta go through some bad ideas to get to the good ones. Tell us one of your bad ideas. How do you get past the bad ones to find your spark?

Oof I wrote a short in 2018 called "Becoming Karen." It was a horror werewolf spoof about a woman becoming a Karen stereotype. It was dumb. My problem is I think all my ideas are good until I look back on them in the cold light of day. After I've written something, I leave it alone for a few weeks and then come back to it with fresh eyes. If I still feel good about it after that, I'll send it to some honest mates to test the waters.

If the world you created in your film became a reality, is that a world you would want to live in? What would you do if you woke up inside of your film?

Ha! Well, some giant spot squeezing and light revenge sounds like a satisfying way to live. If I woke up inside of Custard, I would steer clear of anything Louise brings down to the kitchen.

Who would be in your ultimate sci-fi or horror villain squad?

"I think Pennywise and Pale Man would make for a nasty duo. Hmm the heroes that take them down would be The Babadook and Cesare from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari because I think they would have spooky fun gal pal adventures. "

Lightning round: Freddy or Jason? Stephen King or H.P. Lovecraft? Practical or CGI? Post Apocalypse or Pre Apocalypse?

Freddy! Stephen King! Practicallllll & Post Apocalypse

And finally, Ghostface would like to know ‘What’s your favourite scary movie?’

End Zone 2.