Literally / as in a completely accurate way/

Katia Sinchenko is a screenwriter and showrunner with more than twenty years in the TV and film industry. She was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and graduated with a Master’s Degree in Political Science and English Language from the Institute of International Relations, famous in Ukraine for being the alma mater for both the political establishment of the country and the most notorious IT girls of the Kyiv fashion and clubbing scene.

Katia’s career in TV started very early, and she was lucky to become part of the Ukrainian New Wave – the generation that created the first Ukrainian-speaking TV channels, the first Ukrainian TV series, and big show adaptations. Her first big show was “Dancing with the Stars,” where the charming young comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy became the winner. With a groundbreaking rating for the finals, which still hasn’t been broken in Ukraine, the show became a huge step towards his immense popularity that led him to becoming the president of the country.

Katia had to leave Ukraine in 2014, after Russia occupied Crimea, starting the invasion. For ten years, she lived in Barcelona, Spain, cooperating with Ukrainian and European production companies. Somewhere along the way, she successfully beat cancer and even found appreciation in having had the disease, as something that gave her a much deeper and more sensitive perspective on the world. After the cancer, being 30 years old, she tried a modeling career and landed several major contracts and even international covers.

After the Russian invasion spread to the rest of Ukraine, including her native Kyiv, Katia took a break from the entertainment industry to film a documentary series about women around the world. In 2024, it premiered in Cannes and was selected for the Sunny Side of the Docs Festival. Now, Katia is based in Ottawa and claims that this beautiful, cold Canadian city reminds her of Kyiv. She finally feels at home there, even though she continues to travel. Katia has visited more than 100 countries and all 7 continents. She produces shows for Canadian and American television, takes her two dogs on endless picturesque walks, and dreams of bringing Ukraine and the Ukrainian narrative onto the world literature map.