Kayse1stad

03/27/2026

Lights. Camera. SOCCER! 🎬⚽❤️

Have you ever wondered how epic sports scenes in movies are put together?

I’ve started my next gig – a soccer movie about the 1999 US Women’s National Team.

AKA dream job activated.

We’re already scouting our potential locations and having creative meetings about how best to capture this fantastic story.

What sets this project apart from the average prep experience, though, is all the work going into the soccer side of the movie simultaneously. And that’s where our soccer coordinators come into play.

Aimee, Jessi and their incredible team oversee all soccer related moments in the movie.

They train our fantastic actors so their movements on the field look awesome and authentic.

They cast everyone beyond our actors who will be playing soccer in the movie, like the opposing teams for example.

And they also help translate Nicky our director’s creative vision into choreographed plays on the field.

Nicky and John our cinematographer are of course watching footage and shotlisting at the office, but it’s the visits to the practice field, seeing the choreographed plays in person, that really helps us lay the strongest foundation possible to capture the soccer work in the most believable, cinematic, and goosebump inducing way.

I know I speak for everyone on this production including our stellar office PAs putting these awesome signs up all over, we couldn’t be more excited and honored to get to tell this story and can’t wait for the viewing public and the real 99ers to feel the care, the determination and the joy going into the making of this one.

Shout out to Nicky Kassell our director, 3 Dot Productions and Netflix for making this movie happen!

And of course to the legendary 1999 who started it all.

Here we go, Team. Here we go!

02/22/2026

How I got my start! 🎥🐣📝❤️

The most popular question in the comments by far is wanting to know how I got my start in the film / tv industry. So here you go!

I hope this insight is helpful to those starting out — seeing the value of hard work and of making / nurturing your own connections as most of us don’t enter this field with preexisting ones.

More coming soon about other stages of my career, both the fun stuff and the challenges.

Wishing everyone the best as you find / build your own path.

Go team!

02/04/2026

The lighting team above set! 🎥🌘🔦😍

Did you know that high above our set is a basket holding a light and a very brave teammate?

Anytime you’re watching a scene that takes place at night, odds are very high one of these articulating boom lifts or condors is in play. These lifts hold lights that emulate what the moon or a street lamp would do and compliment all the work being done by the rest of the lighting team on the ground.

The rigging team preps these lifts keeping weight distribution in mind for safety as well as manipulation needs meaning how the electric department teammate in the basket, the lamp operator, will be able to safely access the light to make adjustments when the gaffer requests them.

The lamp op will do their safety checks upon arrival, gather up all the stuff they’ll want to take up with them like something to sit on, some water, an extra walkie battery and a drop line to be able to get stuff sent up to them. Then they’ll drive the lift into position and go up to whatever height the gaffer has requested to light the shot which is usually 45-60 feet up but can be as high as 120 feet. That’s roughly 12 stories high!

They’ll typically spend 2-3 hours in the lift, sometimes up to 6 hours, before coming down for a break and to double check all the safety mechanisms and hydraulics.

I’m told by friends in the electric department that it can get a little toasty and buggy up there depending on the kind of light being used. And while you can’t see it with the naked eye, the lifts definitely sway in the wind much like a skyscraper does which makes sense since they have similar hydraulic systems.

A perk of being up there I’m told is getting to watch the organized chaos below, the team working together on set, from a pretty unique vantage point.

Respect to those who rig these lifts and to the brave souls who go up in them as their contribution no question helps us capture some beautiful night shots and make the best lookishow possible.

HUGE shout out to for sharing the amazing pics / videos seen in this episode and for answering the 146ish questions I had about these rigs.

Go Team!

01/11/2026

Snake Wranglers On Set! 🎥🐍👀

Wanna know a teammate you DEFINITELY want on set with you when you’re filming in the woods or near water?

I’m a city girl so this one is a little rough for me but the answer is…a SNAKE WRANGLER.

The locations department will bring in a snake wrangler whenever we’re shooting in an area that snakes might call home!

Jeff, Michael and their team will roam the perimeter, keeping an eye out for snakes, insects, like spiders for example, anything that could bring harm to the cast or the crew.

Their goal is to separate where the humans are and where the snakes are so all can go about their business without incident.

If they do see a snake, once captured, they’ll take the non-venomous ones to the edge of the property to release them far from where the crew is, near water ideally, while the venomous ones get relocated to an area that’s off limits to the public, like an area the Department Of Natural Resources owns, for example.

There, the snake can go live it’s best life without putting humans in danger.

Both Jeff and Michael have had a lifelong love of reptiles and have volunteered in the state park system for decades. Michael also volunteers at AWARE, a wildlife rehabilitation center! That history both helps them ID venomous vs not quickly and explains the overall no harm no kill approach to their jobs which is awesome.

They started out providing animals for shoots on set, animals seen on camera, and expanded to include snake safety over time which was a natural extension of that work.

While Jeff and Michael are incredibly vigilant on their own, I’ll help the cause by telling them when a camera is moving further into the woods away from the main group, or flagging where our next scene is going to take place so they can do a preemptive sweep of that area before the crew heads that way.

A film set if filled with humans you might not know are in the mix and as you can see every single one of them matters.

Go Team!

12/24/2025

Our eyes on set! 🎥👀❤️

Have you ever wondered how people on set see what the camera is seeing? So many people need to see what the shot is in order to do their jobs well.

That’s where Jesse, our Video Assist, comes into play.

While the camera dept handles the monitors for the DP and the focus pullers, Jesse manages all the other monitors found on set that show the director, the producers, the rest of the crew…exactly what the shot is.

He even transmits that live image to ipads and phones as needed for those who can’t plant themselves by a monitor but still need to see the shot– teammates like our on -et dresser, hair, makeup and wardrobe reps, our 2nd 2nd who is setting the background….

That visual is how the team makes sure everything being captured on camera looks the way they want it to as seen through their specific department’s lens – continuity, performance, every single detail.

If I had to choose, I’d say the two qualities Jesse brings to the table that I admire most are, firstly, how he’s always paying to attention to what Steph the director needs, whether it’s offering that ipad so she can get closer or by playing back a recording of the previous take the second she asks for it so she can confirm if we’re good to move on to the next shot.

Secondly, that he never brings a hint of laziness or frustration to the job. Things on set change constantly and every time something changes, he has to move A LOT of equipment around. Some might (do) roll their eyes as things shuffle, but not Jesse. He’s the first to jump up and put those monitors in the most useful place for Steph and the team even if they need to move again 10 minutes later.

All of which helps us minimize stutter steps in our day, contributes to our overall efficiently, and helps maintain a positive energy on set / by camera which everyone appreciates.

High five to Jesse and all other awesome video assists out there.

Go team!

More coming soon about set life and the awesome teammates who make it all happen from my lens as the 1st AD.

12/13/2025

We’ve wrapped! I’m back home now and the show is in the hands of our awesome post production team.

I have SO MUCH footage from the shoot and many videos on deck for this behind-the-scenes series that I’m excited to share.

But first, I want to talk about the dance of working as a freelancer in the entertainment industry.

Freelance life is tricky in that I don’t know when or where my next job will be. For now, doing my best to keep anxiety about what’s next at bay so I can just enjoy being home and, having been gone for seven months, having the chance to catch up on life here. The fun stuff like long walks to my favorite coffee shops. And all the must dos like jury duty and the dentist.

Beyond navigating uncertainty about what’s next, my other psychological challenge is balancing my desire to be productive with the need to relax / recover from a wonderful but exhausting job. And perhaps most importantly, keeping an eye on what my sense of self worth attaches to along the way.

I suspect I’m not the only one navigating that balance at job’s end!

Wishing all fellow freelancers in this between-jobs window the perfect gig coming your way soon and, knowing it’s an especially strange and concerning time in our industry right now, all the best in wrestling the psychological and tangible challenges that come up along the way.

More videos about what goes in to bringing a tv show to life from my lens as the 1st AD coming your way soon!

12/01/2025

11/10/2025

Grips to the rescue! 🎥💪

Every 1st AD knows the weather can make or break a shoot day, and Atlanta is quick to remind us of that fact. (Deep breath, Kayse).

When unexpected rain hit us a few months back, the grip team stepped up and truly saved the day by putting a 30x30 ultrabounce overhead that protected the cast, the crew, the set overall from the rain.

Due to their skills and the fact that there was miraculously no lightning in the vicinity, we were able to keep shooting, complete the scene, and the viewer will never know we did it all in the middle of a downpour.

This only scratches the surface of all the ways the grip team makes a difference on set.

They help the camera get into the desired position for the shot.

They rig all the vehicles for driving work.

They tent locations so we can shoot scenes day for night.

They rig all the hardware that the electric department will hang their lights from.

They add diffusion and flags to help shape the light into what the DP is after.

They, Jack the Key Grip specifically, always helps monitor and prioritize safety on set.

They place flags around the monitors so the director can watch the action on a glare-free screen.

AND SO MUCH MORE.

Huge shoutout, again, to our grip department for helping us win that day, and to every department / crew member who regularly goes above and beyond to help the cause.

Go team!