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<\/a>Tate\u2019s first role was in for a film project by a student at Biola University.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe spent nine days on set and it was the happiest I had seen the kid in my whole life,\u201d Katherine said.<\/p>\n
After that, there was a lot of driving back and forth between Hollywood and La Mesa, mostly for auditions that would last only 5 minutes. Katherine made sure of Tate\u2019s dedication to acting by doing the trips with no video games or movies during the sometimes seven hours of driving, which Tate happily suffered through.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes when we came back down, we went to Disneyland and I thought that was fun,\u201d Tate said, adding that the long drives were also helpful for his auditions. \u201cIt was a chance for me to get the practice in and really show what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Demand for Tate\u2019s talents grew. He has participated in over 300 film projects, appearing in them as everything from an extra to leading roles, including notable roles in films such as Universal’s \u201cPeppermint,\u201d and the aforementioned \u201cAdventure Force 5,\u201d along with television roles on \u201cSingle Parents,\u201d \u201cA.P. Bio,\u201d \u201cAmerican Princess,\u201d \u201cAdam Ruins Everything,\u201d \u201cCasual,\u201d \u201cConan,\u201d \u201cCooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life\u201d and \u201cCriminal Minds.\u201d<\/p>\n
That kind of workload eventually required the Birchmores \u2014 Katherine, Tate and Tate\u2019s younger brother Maximus \u2014 to purchase a small motorhome that they would camp in on the streets of Los Angeles during shoots or auditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we were in worse neighborhoods, I was kind of scared,\u201d Tate said, and recalled a time when the family was parked near the Hollywood Bowl and was woken from sleep because they thought a drug deal was going down right outside.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made a sound or something, and they were like, \u2018There\u2019s a baby in there,\u2019\u201d Tate said. \u201cSo we were getting ready for them to knock and open the door and my mom was going to shine a flashlight in their eyes and me in the bunkbed above the driver\u2019s seat, I was going to hit \u2018em over the head. Yeah, we were scared. But they just kinda ran.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three years ago, the Birchmore family schedule had them in Los Angeles four to five days a week, so they packed it up and moved into an apartment in Burbank. By that time the whole family had immersed itself in the film business. Maximus joined his older brother and started acting, with a recurring role in \u201cKidding\u201d which starred Jim Carey; a leading role on a religious-themed series called \u201cAnswered Prayers;\u201d a music video for Michael Bubl\u00e9\u2019s \u201cI Believe in You\u201d and more. Katherine, who took over talent management duties for her two children, expanded that role to manage other child actors and started her own agency TANDM Talent Management.<\/p>\n
The busy lifestyle of child acting hasn\u2019t been without some sacrifices. Even before the move to Burbank, Tate had to leave Fuerte Elementary and start homeschooling. Tate said the hardest part of leaving La Mesa was leaving his grandfather behind because he only had a few friends at Fuerte and they\u2019ve not stayed in touch. Friendships, Tate said, are difficult to maintain.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually when we make a friend, it\u2019s somebody like a director\u2019s kids,\u201d he said, and added that he\u2019s also made friends with some of the other actors he meets at auditions, but that it sometimes takes meeting them 10 or 20 times before even sparking up conversation. \u201cYou see them around and after a while you become friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even with a busy schedule that leaves little time for the kinds of friendships most 12 year olds have, Katherine doesn\u2019t worry about her son becoming another child actor horror story.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s like the most grounded person in the world. He\u2019s just loves people and that\u2019s what he\u2019s in it for, I realized,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd he\u2019s very precocious, being around all the adults and just sort of playing pretend. So his motives are I think a lot different than a lot of peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another thing keeping Tate grounded are the college classes he is currently taking at L.A. Valley College to earn an AA degree in directing.<\/p>\n
\u201cDirecting inspires me and motivates me at the same time,\u201d Tate said. \u201cI want to become a director because you have a creative freedom and you can tell your story. Directing has always been interesting to me. I think it\u2019s just fun.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tate said he\u2019s someday like to go to a film school like UCLA and continue to pursue the creative side of directing \u2014 a goal that he sees as keeping him from losing his head in the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s more about being creative and not measuring yourself by what people think,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Learning filmmaking has been a blessing for the Birchmores during the COVID pandemic. With the industry basically on hold, the family is back in the area, staying with Katherine\u2019s father in Rancho San Diego where they have set up makeshift film studios to make short films for Tate\u2019s college assignments and other projects for fun.<\/p>\n \u201cWe built a truss system over the pool so we can fly with pullies and things in front of a big green screen in front of trampolines and things,\u201d Katherine said. \u201cWe\u2019re the ultimate do-it-yourselfers I guess, so that includes becoming a manager, screenwriters, producers, directors.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to spending time with family and working on home movie projects, Tate is also attending the occasional film festival held at drive-in theaters, promoting \u201cPatch,\u201d a short film he stars in opposite Adam Zastrow.<\/p>\n Most of all, the family is looking forward to getting back to the pre-COVID lifestyle they enjoyed together.<\/p>\n \u201cWe think back on like, \u2018Wow, look at all the adventures that we\u2019ve had in all of this\u2019 \u2013 so many unique places and trips and things,\u201d Katherine said.<\/p>\n<\/a>