Kevin Willmott
 |
Kevin Willmott | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 31, 1959 Junction City, Kansas, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Marymount College (BA) New York University (MFA) |
| Occupation(s) | Film director and writer college film professor |
| Employer | University of Kansas |
| Awards | Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay |
Kevin Willmott (born August 31, 1959)[1] is an Academy Award-winning American film director and screenwriter. He is known for work focusing on black issues including writing and directing Ninth Street, C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America, and Bunker Hill.
His The Only Good Indian (2009) was a feature film about Native American children at an Indian boarding school and the forced assimilation that took place. In Jayhawkers (2014), he followed the life of Wilt Chamberlain, Phog Allen and the 1956 Kansas Jayhawks basketball team. Willmott has collaborated with Spike Lee, with whom he shared an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for BlacKkKlansman. The two again collaborated in writing Da 5 Bloods, released worldwide digitally on June 12, 2020.
Wilmott is a professor of film at the University of Kansas.[2]
Biography
[edit]Willmott grew up in Junction City, Kansas, and received a BA in Drama from Marymount College. He received a M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from New York University.[3] He has worked as a screenwriter and film director, known for work related to African-American history and contemporary issues. In 2017, Willmott taught classes in a bulletproof vest in protest of the ability of students and staff to carry concealed weapons on the campus.[2]
He won the Best Director award at the American Indian Film Festival for The Only Good Indian.[4] Willmott's next film, Jayhawkers, received funding through Kickstarter, a crowdsourcing website.[5]
In 2019, Willmott won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film BlacKkKlansman.[6][7]
Personal life
[edit]Willmott is Catholic, and has cited Fr Dan Berrigan, SJ as an influence in his life and work.[8]
Filmography
[edit]Crew
[edit]Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Crew position |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Ninth Street | Director, writer, producer |
| 2004 | C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America | Director and writer |
| 2008 | Bunker Hill | Director, writer, and producer |
| The Only Good Indian | Director and producer | |
| 2013 | Destination: Planet Negro | Director and writer |
| Jayhawkers | Director, writer, and producer | |
| 2015 | Chi-Raq | Writer |
| 2018 | BlacKkKlansman | Writer |
| 2020 | Da 5 Bloods | Writer |
| The 24th | Director and co-writer | |
| 2020 | William Allen White: What's the Matter with Kansas? | Director and writer |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Crew position |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | The '70s | Writer |
| 2005 | High Tech Lincoln | Producer |
Acting
[edit]| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Ninth Street | Huddie |
| 2003 | The Fascist of X-Mart | Narrator |
| The Search for Inflata-boy | Expert | |
| 2004 | C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America | Extra |
| 2009 | Next Caller | God (voice) |
| 2010 | AIR: The Musical | The Detective |
| 2013 | Destination Planet Negro | Dr. Warrington Avery |
| Unit 12 | Bill Swaan | |
| 2014 | Jayhawkers | Dowdall Davis |
| 2015 | Lena Laine | Ryan |
| 2016 | From Ashes to Immortality | Dr. Frank Ryan |
| 2017 | The Profit | Doctor |
| 2019 | The Computer Lab | The Futurist (1 episode) |
| 2021 | Rainbow Boulevard | The Narrator (voice) |
| The Funny Guy | Kevin Weston |
References
[edit]- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 25, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b Dinsdale, Ryan (June 9, 2020). "Oscar winner, KU professor Kevin Willmott shares his love of activism, Kansas and teaching". The University Daily Kansan. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
- ^ [1] Archived September 6, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [2] Archived July 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ""Jayhawkers" – Feature Film by Kevin Willmott". Kickstarter.com. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
- ^ Bierman, Courtney & Josh McQuade (February 24, 2019). "KU's Kevin Willmott takes home Oscar for work on 'BlacKkKlansman'". The University Daily Kansan. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
- ^ "After Oscar win, KU's Kevin Willmott talks Trump tweet, his next film with Spike Lee". The Kansas City Star.
- ^ Loeb, Jeff; Willmott, Kevin (2001). "A Conversation with Kevin Willmott". African American Review. 35 (2): 249–262. doi:10.2307/2903256. ISSN 1062-4783. JSTOR 2903256.
External links
[edit]- Kevin Willmott at IMDb
- On Story – A Conversation with Kevin Willmott [3]
- 1959 births
- African-American Catholics
- African-American film directors
- Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners
- Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
- Film directors from Kansas
- Living people
- People from Junction City, Kansas
- Tisch School of the Arts alumni
- University of Kansas faculty
- Marymount College (Kansas) alumni