Lights, Camera, Heart in Focus

An Interview with Kat Mische Elle

Brook is multi-award winning, entertainment and media veteran and has won an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Direction”. She is an A-list expert on personality driven branded entertainment across all platforms. Her unique approach to storytelling explores the idea that corporate strategy and life improvement can be paralleled in the same breath. Brook has been at the forefront of innovative programming and holds 4 Emmy Awards, 19 Telly Awards and 1 Anthem Award.

Brook, can you share how you began your relationship with the west coast?

It was 1970, I was five years old and living in Brooklyn, Midwood, between Ocean Parkway and Avenue M. My father was an accountant working at Price Waterhouse and he was offered a job in Los Angeles with a boutique firm that was in the music business. So, just like the Beverly Hillbillies, we “loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly Hills, swimming pools, and movie stars.”

I didn’t know the difference between Brooklyn and Beverly Hills at that age. I did know Town Mouse & Country Mouse, except this was in suburbia, and my parents chose opulence. I could see the sun and play in the grass. The sky was a royal blue color, 365 days a year.

The good news is I made many friends, many of whom are still in my life today, and some are closer than others. Max Mutchnick is one person who warms my heart whenever I think of him. We were inseparable through most of elementary school. We laughed, danced, cried sometimes, and no matter what, felt comfortable in our skin around each other. We were like-minded, and unbeknownst to us, we both were gay, I just knew he was a true best friend.

My Dad was managing money for southern rock bands, like Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, and Black Oak Arkansas; they all were a big part of my childhood. They were always hanging out at the house and in our pool. My Dad would often take my sister and me to concerts while working. The moment he saw me fading in exhaustion, he would put me on the speaker on the stage and let me fall asleep with the band jamming and thousands of people singing and screaming, and I was out like a light.

On the intense vibration of a speaker?

I was always around incredibly high energy. It didn’t faze me. Eventually, my dad transitioned from music to entertainment, so movie stars replaced the musicians.

My father was more of a business manager than an accountant. Some of his clients were Aaron Spelling, Bruce Willis, or David Lynch; the spectrum of talent was broad. My father always said, “Don’t go into the entertainment business. It’s hard enough just getting a foot in the door.”