Cate Shortland studied Fine Arts at Sydney University. Cate has a Graduate Diploma in directing from the Australian Film Television and Radio School (2000) where she received the Southern Star Award for most promising student.

She has written and directed 4 award winning short films: Strap on Olympia (1995), Pentuphouse (1998), Flowergirl (1999) and Joy (2000) - all of them in collaboration with producer Anthony Anderson. The films have been received with acclaim at festivals around the world including Oberhausen, Tampere, Clermont-Ferrand, Berlin and London.

Between 2001 and 2003 Cate directed episodes of The Secret Life of Us for Southern Star/Channel 4.

Somersault (2004) is Cate's feature film debut. She has been developing the screenplay with Red Carpet Productions since 1996.