Meet the Cleadon lass who has landed a dream job on Coronation Street

The 22-year-old, from Cleadon, has bagged a post as a third assistant director (3AD) on Coronation Street, just six months after graduating from the University of Sunderland.

The role sees her coordinating extras, preparing and cuing them as well as sometimes directing them in any required background action.

‘Almost surreal’

Katie, who graduated with a BA (Hons) Screen Performance degree in July, is still coming to terms with it: “It’s still a very surreal experience, even after working there for over four months,” she said.

“It’s such a lovely team of cast and crew to be a part of and everyone is very down to earth. The most recent storyline I’ve been working on is about Max and Griff’s gang and the issues around far-right extremism. I was 3rd AD for a lot of the larger crowd scenes, where the bomb exploded.”

Before joining Corrie, Katie spent the summer of 2021 working as a 3rd AD for ITV’s other much-loved show, Emmerdale, where she got the chance to work alongside dad, Gary Stubbs, a freelance Director and Assistant Director, and University of Sunderland Programme Leader for MA Media Production (Film and Television).

“Working on Emmerdale with my dad was really amazing – almost surreal,” said Katie.

“He taught me a lot and has always been my biggest supporter, so working together was quite an achievement for us both.

“It’s something we always joked or talked about but being in the village and it actually happening was just an amazing experience. We were also the first daughter/father duo to work as part of the assistant director team on Emmerdale.”

A proud Gary said: “It’s the most amazing feeling in the world to see Katie working as a director and doing so well in a job she loves, but it’s even better to have had the opportunity to work with her on some of the productions. It was also really funny to see who could figure out we are related because on set she calls me Gary, not dad!

Katie’s CV boasts an array of TV and film roles.

‘I just love it’

In 2021, she started her career as a runner on CBBC’s The Dumping Ground, then worked on shows such as BBC 1’s King Gary and Gentleman Jack, Netflix’s The Last Kingdom, Channel 5’s All Creatures Great and Small, and ITV’s Vera as well as feature films The Railway Children Return and Paramount’s Dungeons and Dragons.

In September, she achieved her first 1st AD credit on a campaign by Primark, then worked as a 1st AD for two British Film Institute films before taking up a 3rd AD role on BBC Scotland’s River City.

In her second year at the university, Katie was selected for the Lord Puttnam Scholars Scheme, creating an online documentary during the COVID-19 pandemic about life in lockdown: “Working with Lord Puttnam really helped me to believe in myself and prepare for the industry, as he really believed in me,” she said.

“I’m currently still working at Coronation Street as I just love it there,” she said.

“I would absolutely love to work on another feature film, ideally Marvel or Disney. That would be the dream.”