And the winner is…

Katie Beatty ’06 and Krista Respass ‘95 have a fair amount in common. They’re both proud TU grads, both had career paths that winded a little and both work with television entities better known by their acronyms than their full names.

Also, they’ve both won national Emmys: Beatty for her contributions to the “Saturday Night Live” 50th anniversary special and Respass (and her team) for the educational content that accompanies the PBS KIDS show “Carl the Collector.”

Live from New York

Beatty has had a 20-year career behind the scenes in the entertainment industry, styling human hair and wigs in opera productions, Broadway, television and films. Last September, she and her colleagues in the SNL hairstyling department won Emmys for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program for “SNL50: The Anniversary Special.”

Her department is nominated in the same category again this year.

Beatty came to TU undecided about her major but quickly found a place in the theatre department. She worked in summer stock productions all over the U.S. as an undergraduate, including one at the Santa Fe Opera. There she met Tom Watson, the wig designer for “Wicked” and many other Broadway shows, who taught her how to make and style theatrical wigs.

Clockwise from top: (1) Katie Beatty ’06 (left) assists in giving Al Roker a fauxhawk when he made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live in 2022. (2) Katie Beatty ’06 holds wig blocks created specifically for the actors involved in an episode, during the COVID pandemic in 2021. (3) Katie Beatty ’06 poses with her Emmy. (4) Katie Beatty ’06 fits Ariana Grande for a wig during Grande’s turn as Saturday Night Live host on Oct. 12, 2024. All photos courtesy Katie Beatty.

While she loves live theater, Beatty feels fulfilled by her work on “SNL” and uniquely prepared for it.

“I am with the host every Saturday from noon all the way until 1 a.m. when we’re finished the live show,” she says. “Our executive producer Lorne Michaels says, ‘We don’t go because we’re ready. We go because it’s 11:30.’ And that couldn’t be more true. You just do the absolute very best you can with the time you have.

“I was involved in a production at Towson where so many things went wrong. One of our professors, Peter Ray, the director, said, essentially, everyone focus on their own job, make that the best you can, and it will all come together. That has always stuck with me.”

TU meets Rockefeller Plaza

When Amy [Schumer '03] came to host, she said, ‘Did you ever think that we would be here right now doing this?’ We were at Towson going to parties and going to classes, and now we’re here at ‘SNL.’

Katie Beatty ’06

Beatty has worked with many celebrities in her 13 years at “SNL.” One of the more surreal experiences was with fellow TU alum Amy Schumer ‘03.

“When Amy came to host, she was putting a wig on in a quick change, and she looked at me and said, ‘Did you ever think that we would be here right now doing this?’ We were at Towson going to parties and going to classes, and now we’re here at ‘SNL.’ It was very cool.”

Krista and ‘Carl’

Krista Respass’s professional future began before she’d left campus—even though she didn’t realize it then. A psychology major, she worked at TU’s Child Care Center, where teachers suggested she look into the education major. 

“I didn’t want to be a teacher,” she says, “but it was really impactful to have experience working with children, especially alongside experienced educators. It was invaluable to be able to more closely observe family dynamics in an intimate setting and see things from a parent and from an education perspective.”

After graduation, she worked at a Baltimore City child care center, connecting particularly with one family who had an autistic child. She found PBS KIDS shows were great ways to practice social skills and interactions with autistic children. 

The start of a ‘full-circle moment’

As the senior managing director of early childhood education services in the Maryland Center for Media Literacy & Education (housed within Maryland Public Television), Respass leads the development of educational resources that accompany PBS shows as well as ones that help Maryland residents develop media literacy skills needed to navigate the digital landscape. 

PBS submitted the nomination. They called me with the news, and it was an enormous shock and a huge honor to win the award for work I’m so passionate about.

Krista Respass ’95

A little more than two years ago, national PBS staff selected Respass and her team to create Maryland State Education standards-aligned learning resources to accompany the PBS KIDS series “Carl the Collector.”

The videos, worksheets, interactive games and curriculum and educator guides—among other materials—help teachers, families and students build empathy, understand neurodiversity and celebrate different ways of experiencing the world.

The show is centered around the titular character, an autistic child raccoon with a special interest in creating collections. Episodes often involve Carl and his friends working together and learning lessons to address new situations. The production team includes neurodiverse writers, production staff, animators, advisers and voice talent.

A screenshot of Carl the raccoon and his mother during the episode "The Butterfly Collection" (left) and a promotional image from MPT's website.

Respass calls her team’s work supporting “Carl the Collector” a full-circle moment. It also one she didn’t know would be Emmy winning.

But on March 1, Repass, representing MPT, joined the team behind the series to accept the national Emmy for Outstanding Public Service Initiative at the Children's and Family Emmy® Awards in New York City. 

The award was decided largely by the off-screen educational content supporting the show and required a unanimous decision from the judging panel.

“PBS submitted the nomination,” she says. “They called me with the news, and it was an enormous shock and a huge honor to win the award for work I’m so passionate about.”

Top image: Krista Respass (center) with colleagues at the Children's and Family Emmy Awards ceremony in New York.