Kathryn Rodenmeyer, Director of Television

Kathryn Rodenmeyer of Jackson has over 30 years experience in documentary film and television production. She now serves as Director of Television for Mississippi Public Broadcasting.

What’s your background and what led to you working in television?

My career has been split between practicing public relations and media production. I broke into television when I worked in the public relations department at the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks as the first coordinating producer for Mississippi Outdoors in the early ‘90s.  I worked with the team at ETV, and we made 50 magazine-style shows for the first season. Before, I made shows for the Jackson public access channel with my husband, Ron Rodenmeyer.

Ron, a filmmaker and my husband of 34 years, started his career at Mississippi ETV. We met in college at the University of Missouri-Columbia where I studied photojournalism. We decided to start a family and a public relations and video production business in 1995. Our business, Mosaic Media, and our eldest child turn 30 this summer.

The Sony VX-1000 prosumer video camera was released in 1995. It was a breakthrough for filmmakers who wanted a small production footprint with a camera that could provide high quality images at that time.  That camera made our business possible and helped further our filmmaking careers, allowing us to make our own films for basically the cost of time and mini-DV tapes.

Because I was able to go out and film on my own with that camera without a crew, I produced a documentary project, Servants and Leaders.  I had community support for this project through the Mississippi Film Alliance, the Mississippi Film Office, Jackson’s Arts Council and the Mississippi Arts Commission as a media arts fellow. This led to Kartemquin Films of Chicago hiring me to be their local producer for a series of documentary shorts funded through the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi through Maris West and Baker. That project, Life Stories, was done over two and a half years and produced four films and one TV special that aired on Mississippi ETV (now MPB).  It was a turning point in my career as a documentary filmmaker.

For at least a decade following, I was hired by MPB as a contract producer to work on educational projects, documentaries and television programs. MPB News hired me in 2013 to work full-time on a documentary TV series called Southern Remedy. Over the 5 years working on that project, we made 40 programs.

Southern Remedy propelled me in a direction I wasn’t really expecting. Because we were reporting people’s stories about health disparities in Mississippi, I wanted to understand why the health outcomes were poor, and ended up earning a certificate in population health science from the University of Mississippi Medical Center. I left MPB in 2019 to work in communications director roles for a community health association and a university. I rejoined the MPB team in June.

My career in media making has been supported by my husband, Ron.  We work as a team.  It’s good to have somebody to bounce ideas off of, to edit your work or to help you “kill your darlings,” so to speak.

What are some of your current or recent projects, and do you have anything that you’re particularly proud of from your career?

One of the big projects that Ron and I both worked with MPB was an educational series called Mind in the Making in 2022. It qualified to participate in the Film Office’s cash rebate program.  The project was nominated for a Regional Emmy.  

Although not recent, I am proud of our documentary uprooted.  It screened at the Crossroads and the Oxford film festivals, and it was distributed by the National Educational Telecommunications Association. After it aired on MPB right after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, a viewer sent a letter into The Clarion-Ledger saying how it resonated with them due to the resiliency of the main character, who endured displacement. When you get that kind of feedback, it’s like, oh, wow, the effort has paid off. 

As a documentary filmmaker, what would you say some of the common challenges you’ve had working in that space, and how did you overcome them?

Really, it’s all down to having a plan.  It’s a challenge for people to finish their films if they are not sufficiently funded or staffed.   However, the best advice I heard at a workshop from filmmaker Stanley Nelson was for makers to ‘finish your film.’ With perseverance, I was able to finish the self-initiated projects I started, but it was because I had a lot of support at home and from the community.

Has there been anybody particular in your career that’s served as a mentor or inspiration?

There have been women that I’ve watched succeed in media storytelling as independent filmmakers and at Mississippi Public Broadcasting as creatives, journalists, and television administrators.  I admire them for their perseverance. Being back at MPB full time, I am inspired by the passion of my colleagues who are eager to bring Mississippi stories to life. The people making the content are a new generation of media makers.  Media platforms and viewer consumption habits have changed.  I’m learning a lot from my colleagues.

What do you see as your mission as Director of Television, and can you talk a little bit about the importance of public television?

Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s mission to provide “educational and instructional professional growth and public service programs for the students and citizens of Mississippi” is my north star.  The media being made locally by and for Mississippians here at MPB and beyond has special significance in recording the state’s arts, culture and people, for today’s media consumers and for future generations.

What would you say to convince someone to choose Mississippi to make a film?

First, the Mississippi Film Office is very helpful. The staff has a deep knowledge base to help connect producers to resources to make projects successful and profitable.  Second, Mississippi is beautiful, so there are a lot of options for locations. And third, Mississippians like to participate in productions and will be helpful to those who come to towns to make films.

What would your hopes for the future of the industry in the state be?

I would love to see more productions coming to the state and engaging more people who are interested in working on a film. Mississippi and the citizens have a lot to offer the film and media industry.