Traycee King is an actress and filmmaker. Her father introduced her and her brother to movies when she was five years old. At first she didn’t take to them because she thought they were boring and would rather be outside climbing trees. The more her father had movie nights, the more she gave in. Eventually, HBO became one of her closest friends. Horror made its way into the lineup during movie night and she vividly remembers her brother saying, “you’re a chicken. Horror is exciting!” Her father had a much gentler approach and explained to her that horror was make-believe and no one really got hurt. She became so fascinated that she wanted to be Conan the Barbarian when she grew up - but mostly because she wanted to be the toughest kid on her street.
After high school, everyone had plans to go to college except for her. She didn’t have a solid plan but knew she didn’t want to be stuck in the small town of Lemoore, CA forever. Her then boyfriend suggested that she join the Air Force, so in true young Traycee fashion, she followed a boy into the military. This decision actually became one of the most important in her young life as it taught her to be self-reliant, confident, and aware.
Her dreams of being an actress finally materialized when she was discharged from the military, however, when 9/11 happened, she was reactivated and her plans were put on hold. Her father (ex-Navy) cried and said he wanted to come out of retirement to take her place. Traycee explained to him that he had done enough and that it was her turn to protect him. Unfortunately, she is now a disabled veteran and can no longer serve. What
seemed like a sad tale actually turned into a blessing. Traycee then moved back to Los Angeles to focus on acting.
She got a few jobs here and there but was greedy for work. When she discovered that her peers were creating their own content online during the early stages of New Media, she started searching for horror - that genre was nowhere to be found so she began to brainstorm. In the process of turning into a filmmaker, she realized that the hard work of finishing an entire project was extremely satisfying. Along the way, many of her friends told her that horror was no place for a woman and that she would never succeed. People who watched her series even thought she was a man because “Traycee” is a unisex name. Not phased by the constant criticism, she went on to win multiple awards for her first online horror, 8.13. This is what convinced her that she was doing something right.
She decided that she should always be creating something and the only one she needed to prove anything to, was herself.