Nationality Australian Website www.bindingfilms.com | Years active 2012–present Movies The Will To Fly | |
Full Name Kate Rebecca Bender Born 5 October 1985 (age 31) ( 1985-10-05 ) Geelong, Victoria, Australia Alma mater Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Occupation Film Producer
Documentary Filmmaker Education Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne | ||
Kate Rebecca "Katie" Bender (born 5 October 1985) is an Australian film producer, and director. She made her feature-length directing debut with the 2016 documentary The Will To Fly about Australian Olympic freestyle skier gold medalist Lydia Lassila.
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Early life
Bender attended Methodist Ladies College, a private girls school in Victoria, Melbourne. She is a former gymnast and freestyle skier and trained on the Australian freestyle aerial ski team. After retiring from professional sport due to injury, Bender then began film and digital media studies at The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) based in Los Angeles, California. After graduation she began working in the movie trailer industry at Trailer Park Inc, a motion picture marketing firm in Hollywood.
The Will To Fly
Bender was the producer and director of the 2016 feature documentary The Will To Fly about Australian Olympic freestyle skier gold medalist Lydia Lassila. Bender is an ex-teammate of Lydia Lassila, and was inspired to make "The Will To Fly" in 2012 whilst visiting Lydia at a training camp in Utah. Lydia was current defending Olympic champion at the time and had just returned to the sport as a first time mother. Bender realised the potential for a feature-length film when Lydia explained her sporting aspirations to narrow the gap between male and female capabilities by performing a 'quad triple twisting, triple somersault' at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The film was quoted “The most inspirational movie of the year” by The Huffington Post.