Katie Wilson – Kingdom Geek

By starrymag | July 10, 2017

By: Krista Ann Freego

Q) You have your own YouTube channel, how long have you been on YouTube?

 

A) Probably for about five years now.

 

Q) You are also the Co-Host of Kingdom Geek, a weekly podcast on FullScreen. Please tell us more about that?

 

A) Basically, each week we have a celebrity guest join us and it’s sort of like a talk show where we get to know what our guests are doing at the time. We, of course, cover geeky topics and find out what our guests are geeking out about. It’s a lot of fun. We also play a lot of games with them, as well.

 

Q) How did you get involved in Geek and Gamer culture?

 

A) I just want to say that I was probably just born like that. I started playing video games when I was about five years old. Also, around the same time I started watching shows like “Xena: Warrior Princess” and “Pokémon.” Obviously, watching Xena I was totally geeking out over mythology and super hero women. It kind of just started from there and I have loved it ever since.

 

Q) Did you find it difficult to break into Geek and Gamer culture, which is predominantly male?

 

A) I wouldn’t say it was difficult to break into. At the same time, I wasn’t necessarily trying to. I just sort of started talking about what I love online. So, all the TV shows, video games and movies I like I just started talking about them and gained a following. I will say, though, that I really do see that sometimes in comments, but not necessarily in getting jobs or trying to book work or anything like that. Definitely comments. People still don’t believe that girls know how to play video games, it’s so crazy.

 

Q) For Kingdom Geek, you are already in your second season and have had some amazing guests. Which guest were you most nervous to interview?

 

A) Most nervous? Probably the one I was most nervous for would be our first ever episode with Eliza Taylor. It was one: our first episode and two: she is amazing! I love “The 100” and I am such a big fan of the show and she was literally top of our list when we submitted to our booker which guests we would love to have on the show. When we got her I was like, “Oh my gosh! She’s actually here, sitting there. Wow! We actually get to talk to her!” But, then, you know what? After that you kind of just don’t get nervous anymore. When you meet someone who you love and you fangirl over, now you’re like, “Ok I can take a step back now.” I wasn’t super nervous after that.

 

Q) Do you have any advice for young women who want to do what you do?

 

A) Just stay true to what you like. Talk about your passions. It can be anything, it doesn’t have to be about geek culture and movies. That just happens to be what I love and what I grew up with. I just try and share my experiences about the things that I love with my audience. The one piece of advice I like to give to everyone is if you just talk about something that you are passionate about, your audience will find you. You don’t have to do what everyone else is doing or the latest YouTube challenges. You can just be yourself, talk about what you like and your audience will find you.

 

Q) One of the aspects I love most about your content is your emphasis and spotlight on strong female characters. Can you tell us who some of your favorite strong female characters are?

 

A) Oh definitely! I mentioned briefly that I am a HUGE “Xena: Warrior Princess” fan. That sparked everything for me! From there, I love TV shows like “Alias,” which had a strong amazing female character. “Battlestar Galactica,” of course. Have you seen the new Wonder Woman? That was so incredible! That was my childhood, in movie form. So, it’s kind of crazy that twenty years later I am getting to see things that I grew up with and loved! Everyone is watching it, it’s just so crazy.

 

Q) What are you currently geeking out about game vise or geek culture wise?

 

A) Besides Wonder Woman? Because still I am hardcore for Wonder Woman. I have seen it five times now. I was very lucky that I got to see it a little early. I just love it so much! I am still very much geeking out over Wonder Woman. Recently, there was E3 and I got to play Super Mario Odyssey. I geeked about that. I also got to play Shadow of War, another game that I was completely geeking out over and was so much fun to play.

 

Q) Do you feel that there are more strong female characters in geek culture now, then when you were growing up?

 

A) That is actually a really good question. I feel like there were characters that I could look up to, but I specifically like craved that. Whether it be “Xena,” “Buffy,” “Battlestar” or any of those particular TV shows, I did have strong females to look up to. But, I feel like people are so lucky in today’s world because they are seeing that times ten. It’s great. I only hope that twenty years from now, we are getting it even more! Little kids are going to grow up watching Wonder Woman and then twenty years from now they are going to be just like how I was as a kid. I think that is really important for little girls and little boys to have strong females to be able to look up to.

 

Q) Anything coming up that you would like our readers to know about?

 

A) I am going to VidCon. I am hosting the live main show at VidCon. That’s tomorrow actually. Then, I am doing something cool next week, but I’m not sure I am allowed to talk about it so I am going to hold off on that. I will definitely be at San Diego Comic Con. I will be all over the place. I don’t know about New York Comic Con yet. I hope so, but I don’t have any plans as of right now.

 

Q) Talking to an expert on geek culture and trivia, I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to challenge you to a Geek-Off. I have chosen two fictional female characters: Clarke from “The 100” and Sidney Bristow from “Alias.” You get first choice. Then we each present arguments as to if there were a battle between these two characters why our character would win. Who is your pick?

 

A) Sidney Bristow. Clarke doesn’t fight. I mean she can if she is put into a situation, but she’s not trained. Sidney Bristow was trained from a very, very young age to be an assassin, a ninja. She’s been undercover. She knows how to act and do different personalities. She is able to transform her appearance. She has the CIA backing her. [laughs] There is no question there. I mean she doesn’t have a spaceship, but I don’t think she’ll need one.

 

Q) My pick is Clarke. Yes she is not a trained fighter, but she has the spirit of a fighter. I mean she is Wan Heda. I mean, when she has to wield the sword and make the tough decisions, she makes them. Time and time again, she is constantly sacrificing herself for others, which makes her unpredictable and gives her advantages in a fight. Whereas, someone else always tries to win the fight, but also survive the fight.

 

A) You know what’s funny? You actually reminded me that she “survived Prime Fire.” So, she can probably survive anything! [laughs] They are both just so great in their own rights. If they had to fight each other, it wouldn’t come down to decision making or relying on your friends to help you. Or making the right choice. It would just be might. I love Clarke, don’t get me wrong. “The 100” is one of my favorite shows, but Sidney Bristow can fight! We all know that Xena would take them both so we should really just give it to Xena! [laughs]