What People Say About My Ideation Training Workshops...

“Kathryn's creative ideation course was a great way to bring a team together, to work cross functionally and provide us with the tools to work better creatively. Thanks again."
Yaseen Abbas - Mobile Portfolio Marketing Manager - Spark

"Kathryn’s workshop was great and really well tailored to the participants. It left our team with a set of tools they will continue to use – and benefit from. We look forward to the follow-up session.”            Kathryn Quirk - General Manager - OnDigital

"Kathryn ran a really inspirational session for a bunch of hardened creatives who don't suffer fools. Immensely enjoyable and stimulating for the whole creative team." Ant Farac - HOD Promotions Department - Mediaworks

“Thanks again for the ½ day workshop you ran with the team at ASB. We’re always looking for ways to stay innovative and your techniques and enthusiasm will ensure that we don’t get stale in our approach. The practical tools and techniques were great for the pragmatists of the group, whereas the brain theory was a great way to reassure the anoraks that icebreakers, and creative exercises are a practical necessity in delivering innovation. Overall a well-balanced morning, and plenty of content to keep us on our toes – thanks for your help and contagious enthusiasm."
Damien Leng - Head of Customer Segments | Retail Products and Strategy ASB

"Kathryn is an absolute class act!  She has the ability to completely understand your business problem and relate that into an actionable and effective plan that can work within varying personalities in a workforce. Our team has benefited so much from the creative training she has delivered. I would highly recommend her to any business." Jane Stanley -  General Manager -Sparkphd

"Kathryn is an engaging and skilled facilitator, with an in-depth understanding of the creative process.The workshops she ran for the NZ Comedy Trust were packed with tools that could immediately be used to generate a wealth of new ideas. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the session and came away invigorated and inspired." Kylie Sealy – Managing Director, NZ Comedy Trust

"Kathryn delivered brilliant workshops to our 10 documentary teams for Loading Docs 2015 & 2016, it was instrumental in taking every idea to a new level. Her workshop enabled the teams to tease out each narrative and come to a much deeper understanding of the stories they wanted to tell. The electricity in the room was palpable as they distilled their stories and unearthed new layers of connection to their subject matter. Kathryn kept everyone moving forward at pace to really take advantage of the time we had together and there is no doubt that we all left richer for the experience." 
Nia Phipps - Project Manager/Producer - Notable Pictures

"I just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my brain stem for the most fantastic workshop on Friday! It has not only armed our team with powerful tools we can put into everyday practice but it was also a fantastic team building exercise – genius." Kath Knight – Geyser Creative Group

"Kathryn ran a fantastic training workshop for our annual conference. It was stimulating, enjoyable and the brainstorming process helped us to look at our sales techniques & how we approached different situations in different ways. Participants agreed she was one of the best speakers we have had at any of our conferences." Deborah Stewart – NZ Territory Manager, Biomet 3i

"For a creative agency where ideas are its business, Kathryn’s brainstorming workshop was a breath of fresh air. Our customised session combined theory with practical exercises equipping us with an arsenal of creative weaponry to draw on in the future as well as understanding a little more about each other. Kathryn is a skilled facilitator whose energetic and fun-loving style instantly put everyone at ease. She really understands what makes people tick and everything she brought to our session was absolutely on the money." Steve Martin – Creative Director, Terabyte

"Kathryn, thank you for the great work you did in facilitating our recent Leadership team workshop and assisting us to discover solutions. Everyone involved thoroughly enjoyed the day and found it very thought provoking. We spend so much time doing every day that we often don't make the time to sit back, see the big picture and really think about what we could challenge, change or improve." Liz Webb – Strategy and Process Analyst, AIA Insurance New Zealand

“Kathryn led a company-wide workshop on brainstorming and in a short time gave my team a fantastic tool kit to use in creating great ideas for our clients. She was efficient, effective and great fun.” Claudia MacDonald – Managing Director, Mango Publicity 

"We knew we needed a skilled and innovative facilitator to get these great minds firing and to draw out new ideas. Kathryn was a great choice: she is engaging and has an energetic approach. Her exercises became more focused as the session continued and ideas that seemed disparate came together in meaningful ways. Kathryn's sense of humour, focus and lateral way of working really brought the session to life and reaped fantastic results for us." Esther Cahill-Chiaroni – Director, Script To Screen 

“Kathryn Burnett's creativity brainstorming session for the Auckland Theatre Company staff was a riot of ideas and exchanges. By leading us through a series of deceptively simple but increasingly challenging exercises, Kathryn delivered a fun, highly interactive session that got staff members talking, laughing and thinking outside the square. Kathryn’s manner was warm, encouraging and professional. She kept us on task and didn’t let the energy dip for a second. We would certainly consider booking further sessions with her in the future.” Lynne Cardy – Creative Development & Education Manager, Auckland Theatre Company

"The brainstorming exercises were enjoyable, productive and left us with a bunch of useful tools we can use for future work – which is excellent. The diverse range of people all found there was something they could take away that would work for them as individuals and that we could also use as a group. It was exactly what we were after.” Jude McClaren – Development Executive, The Gibson Group

"Kathryn ran a brainstorming workshop for the inaugural NZ Film Commission Escalator Bootcamp. It was very liberating and perfect for squeezing out that creative juice." Paul Swadel – Development Executive, New Zealand Film Commission

“Working with students a lot I found Brainstorm to give them some invaluable pointers on how to generate thoughts and ideas. Even more useful were the tools shown to release stuck thought processes or road-blocked ideas, tools which will be essential to them in their careers, all wrapped up in a bundle of fun and energy - a great day. Thank you.” Richard Bell – Director, NZ Broadcasting School

About Kathryn's Writing Workshops...

“Kathryn's scriptwriting workshop was brilliant. I loved learning from her and would sit at the front of the class, furiously jotting down notes like a nerd. Kathryn has a natural ability to connect with an audience. She teaches with patience and humour and she provides cake for morning tea! ” Jaquie Brown – Presenter/ Actor/Screenwriter

"Loved it! Kathryn gets straight to the point and gives clear, practical advice about screenwriting. She demystifies the process." Rebecca Barry Hill – Journalist/Screenwriter

"This is a great workshop for learning the basics. Kathryn includes the perfect mix of technical information and theory, along with a big dose of fun. As a professional writer this has given me invaluable tools." Stacey Muncie (USA)

"Kathryn Burnett's workshop was the perfect introduction to screenwriting - an absorbing, entertaining and provocative session which made the intricacies of the art seem logical and accessible. I left the course energised and informed, and ready to write." Duncan Greive – Journalist/Critic

"Kathryn Burnett is the bombdiggity. She brings amazing experience, intelligence, and passion to her teaching. She has a comprehensive understanding of movies, cinema history, and storytelling technique, and is effective and engaging when sharing that knowledge with her students. Kathryn is to storytelling tutors as Carlos the Jackal is to international assassins. I can't recommend her highly enough." Steve Barr – screenwriter, producer, and development executive

"I highly recommend Kathryn's screenwriting course. Infused with some great practical exercises from her brainstorming workshops. The course helped me come up with my own ideas then apply them to a framework for developing them into a screenplay. Kathryn has a real passion and talent for sharing what she has learned, I found her course very inspiring."
Richard Mans – Animator/Filmmaker

"Kathryn is a wonderful screenwriting tutor, who both inspires and pushes writers beyond the mediocre. Her teaching is very clear and practical, so I find myself applying it to my writing even as she speaks. Kathryn has a rare skill of making the theory work for you - so instead of feeling restricted by the rules, lost in the world of analysis or just entertained, you feel like actually writing." Enni Tuomisalo – filmmaker/actor

“Kathryn Burnett’s “Beginners Guide to Screen-writing Workshop” was a fascinating and valuable learning experience for participants of the intensive two-day course recently held on the University of Waikato’s Tauranga campus; her vast knowledge of the screen industry, along with its requirements of the screenwriter, were effortlessly conveyed by her clear/dynamic tutoring style. Participants not only valued the generous manner in which Kathryn shared her knowledge, but they also felt encouraged to participate in the discussion times that were an integral part of the workshop. As an adult community education coordinator of many years, I would rate Kathryn Burnett as one of the most dynamic tutors I have ever seen. The evaluation forms from participants were full of praise for both the tutor and the relevance of her material; many told me personally that it was the best writing course that they had ever attended.” Nyree Sherlock – Adult Community Education Advisor, CCE, University of Waikato at Tauranga

"I encourage writers of all abilities to take Kathryn's re-writing courses. I was in the middle of a rewrite and bogged down in the mechanics of the script. Kathryn's exercises helped free up my mind and solve some key problems in my screenplay - I no longer believe in writer's block. Kathryn is also a working writer so she knows the many issues facing the writer. And her course was a hell of a lot of fun." Michael Beran – Director/Writer

"As a copywriter and blogger I write for money everyday, but this Kickstart workshop was 100% worth the time to advance my personal project. Kathryn is professional, respectful and precise. She gave me a sterling process to build my plot, and l was able to go home and churn out some work that I truly rate. Great writers don't always make great teachers but this one's got the goods." Emma Harrison-Clark – Copywriter

"Wow, when I won your fine Creative Writing workshop through NZWG I was really pleased, but had no idea it would be so incredibly helpful, have been singing your praises on Facebook." Raewyn Alexander – poet, novelist, publisher

"Be warned! This creative writing course is not just about sitting listening to talks and tips on writing which you can find in good books. You have to write! It`s like being dropped in at the deep end. You learn to swim! There is however a benevolent life saver keeping watch and ready to rescue you if you feel you are getting out of your depth and you can climb into the life boat for some one -to-one help, which is both life saving and inspirational, when you need it. I didn`t want to just learn 'about writing', I wanted to learn 'to write' and was well satisfied."  Ray Prowse – (Former) AUT lecturer, Academic Literacies

"Ideas Clinic. My head is bulging with the possibilities and now I have great motivation to make the time to write. It was very liberating, after I got over the whole world-is-ending sense of doom, to have to share my ideas with real people. The immediate feedback from the group was rewarding and not at all scary, as I had imagined." Therese Oliver – Aspiring Novelist 

"I strongly recommend anyone interested in creative or screenplay writing to do one of Kathryn's courses. She has an elegant way of demystifying the creative writing process, while maintaining the magic. Importantly at the end of the course you'll come away with a tangible plan of attack to put in place at once and the desire to go with it." Helena Ashcroft – Publicist Blue Fox PR

"Because I am self-employed it is hard setting aside time to just be lateral and spontaneous when it comes to the creative process. What I love about these Brainstorm sessions is I get to play in my own head. There is enough structure to challenge and prompt me, but enough freedom to allow me to go off in a completely different direction if I want. The sessions have given me some fantastic new ideas and helped me take existing ones in new and exciting directions. It is perhaps the one part of my week where I can just be purely creative without questioning or ‘reasoning’ my way through the process, and I am not going to be distracted by phone calls or other demands. Kathryn is the perfect drill instructor – inspiring, funny, creative and challenging." Andrew Whiteside – television presenter/ director/ writer

"Kathryn's Brainstorm workshops give me the permission to go crazy with my ideas when I'm thinking about a character or storyline, and once the frenzy has settled I discover I have some real gems to work with. A great way to reinvigorate an old idea, or just keep the creative juices limbered up." Cushla Dillion – editor, screenwriter