Kevin Bassett

Biography

Born 1965 in Coldwater, Michigan, Kevin grew up in New Haven, Indiana. After an Epiphany during the viewing of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" at the age of 11, Kevin dedicated all his passions to directing/shooting of films and later, videos. Having won multiple film festivals during his years at New Haven High School (graduating in 1984) Kevin moved on to the Bachelor of Fine Arts program at Columbia College in Chicago where he was fortunate to be classmates with the likes of Januz Kaminski, ASC (2-time Oscar winning Cinematographer), Mauro Fiore, ASC (Oscar winning Cinematographer of "Avatar") and Jeff Jur, ASC. Kevin's very first paid position was as a grip/PA to DP Alan Thatcher on the low budget horror film "Savage Beliefs" on which Januz Kaminski was the "A" camera 1st assistant. While at Columbia, Kevin worked with Kaminski on several student projects as well as "slave labor" for the various productions that came to Chicago in the mid-80s. In 1987, after Kaminski & Fiore left Chicago for the AFI, Kevin returned to Fort Wayne, Indiana and took a position as a film/video cinematographer with the top local production house. He spent the next decade moving up to bigger and better production companies,and continuing to freelance in the Chicago market. He picked up his first Emmy award for Cinematography in 1993. The following years he was nominated for seven additional Emmy Awards, and began to freelance his talents as a DP to a larger market area. In 1997, relocated to Grand Haven, Michigan to accept the Senior Director/Cinematographer position of the top production house in Western Michigan. After numerous awards for national 35mm &16mm spots and corporate films, in 1999 Kevin welcomed his first son Nathan and returned to northern Indiana to once again freelance his talents as a Director of Photography. In 2005, he met with Writer/Director Gary Wood ("Saving Star Wars") and after fast becoming friends he accepted Wood's offer to DP his next feature film, Open Mic'rs (2006). Many more feature film projects followed, both with Director Wood and other filmmakers.