Corrie Holliday lived for the first twenty years of her life in Concord, California. She is the only child of Kristy and Brian Holliday. Her parents raised her with a great appreciation for music, film and theater arts, and the family frequently enjoyed local productions. Corrie attended local public schools in Concord. Her first acting role was in kindergarten, performing as Glinda the Good Witch in a youth production of The Wizard of Oz. Throughout her childhood, Corrie participated in the Mountain View Elementary School chorus, renowned for its semiannual theater productions. She played the lead role of Marie in The Nutcracker in her fifth grade year. As a student at El Dorado Middle School and Concord High School, Corrie discovered improvisational theater, and regularly attended after-school drama clubs to develop her craft. She also participated in creative writing and poetry workshops, appreciating the power of written and spoken word. In the fall of 2005, her last year of high school, Corrie joined the student radio station KVHS-FM "90.5 The Edge" and continued to develop her knack for improvisation as an on-air talent for nearly three years. In her time at KVHS, Corrie acted as a station Operations Manager and Public Service Director, organized promotions and events, produced radio spots, assisted in live remote broadcasts, and fell completely in love with radio. "The adrenaline when you're on the mike....There's nothing else like it." She credits this experience as her key motivation for choosing to study broadcast media in college. Corrie gained her first video production crew experience while attending Diablo Valley College. She transferred to San Francisco State University where she entered the Broadcast Electronic Communication Arts program, and studied media theory and practice. At SFSU Corrie hosted shows on the campus radio station KSFS, worked on several video production crews and editing teams, and produced her first documentary film, Excelsior Rising. The short film explores community efforts to improve public safety in the Excelsior neighborhood of San Francisco. For Corrie, working on this project has been one of her most ground-breaking and powerful experiences. Excelsior Rising won the Best Documentary award at BECA Fest 2010, the annual showcase of student work. Corrie graduated from San Francisco State University in 2010. Corrie lived in San Francisco for another year after graduation, and then moved back to the East Bay to pursue a career in peace activism at an Oakland-based grassroots non-profit organization. Her background in radio and improvisation has been key to her success in powerful storytelling, engaging with the public and encouraging activism to promote peaceful foreign policy and social justice.
