Katja Blichfeld

Katja Blichfeld (born 1979) is an American writer, director, producer and casting director. She is known for co-creating and directing High Maintenance, a Vimeo web series and HBO television series. She won a Primetime Emmy award for Outstanding Casting on a Comedy Series for her work on 30 Rock.

Early life and education Blichfeld was born in Long Beach, California in 1979. She was raised as an evangelical Christian and attended Christian schools until graduating.

Blichfeld was briefly enrolled in Long Beach City College before dropping out and moving to Chicago.

Career When Blichfeld was nine years old she wrote, filmed, and starred in a short film about the dangers of marijuana.

In 2005, Blichfield began her casting career on Comedy Central's Roast of Jeff Foxworthy as an assistant. The next year, she worked as a casting associate on the mystery-thriller Freedomland. In 2010, she transitioned from film to TV by joining Jennifer McNamara as a casting director for NBC’s 30 Rock.

Blichfeld is the co-creator and director of the Vimeo and HBO television series High Maintenance. Blichfeld and her co-creator, Ben Sinclair, initially started the show as a passion project. The pair were the sole writers for 18 of the 19 webisodes, which they produced for less than $1,000 apiece before it was picked up by HBO. They began writing together only days after becoming a couple and moved in together in the span of months.

At 37, Blichfeld came out as a lesbian and began to openly date women.