fiction.wikisort.org - Director

Nicole Kassell (born 1972) is an American film and television director who is noted for her work on films such as The Woodsman and on TV in series such as Vinyl, The Leftovers and Watchmen.

Nicole Kassell
Born	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Education	Columbia University (BA) New York University (MFA)
Occupation	film and television director
Relatives	Lauren Kassell

In January 2020, Kassell won the Directors Guild of America Award for Dramatic Series for directing the Watchmen episode "It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice".[1]

Early life

Kassell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, raised in Charlottesville, VA where she attended St. Anne's-Belfiield School. Her father, Dr. Neal Kassell, a University of Virginia medical professor, performed two brain surgeries on Joe Biden in 1988 to repair his aneurysm and the two have remained friends ever since.[2][3][4][5][6]

She earned a BA in Art history from Columbia University,[7] and received her MFA from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.[8][9] While a student at NYU, she made three short films, including The Green Hour, which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2002.[8]

Career

Awards

While attending NYU she was honored with a full scholarship for two years. She was awarded with the 1999 DGA Student Female Filmmaker Prize for her short film Jaime, and in 2002 her screenplay The Woodsman won first prize at the Slamdance Screenplay Competition.[10][8] The Woodsman would go on to receive recognition, including a CACAE (art house award) at the Directors' Fortnight at The Cannes Film Festival, The Jury Prize at the Deauville Film Festival, a Humanitas nomination, and The Satyajit Ray Award at the London Film Festival.[8]

Film

A year earlier, she had won the Slamdance Screenplay Competition[11] for her first feature-length project, The Woodsman (2004 film),[9][12] adapted from Steven Fechter's 1997 minimalist play she had seen staged at The Actors Studio in New York City. Her enthusiasm for it convinced Lee Daniels, one of the producers of Monster's Ball, to help her get funding for the film version. When he approached Kevin Bacon, the actor was so impressed by the script, about a convicted child molester forced to deal with social prejudice and the fear he will not be able to control his dark urges after he is released from prison, that he suggested he star in the movie opposite wife Kyra Sedgwick. The Woodsman competed at Sundance and the Toronto International Film Festival, was featured in the Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival, and eventually was released to the public in 2004. Kassell's second feature film, A Little Bit of Heaven, a romantic comedy starring Kate Hudson and Gael García Bernal, had its first release in February 2011 in the UK.^{[citation needed]}

She has adapted Arthur Miller's play The Ride Down Mt. Morgan for the big screen. The project has been in pre-production since 2004 and will reportedly feature a cast that includes Diane Keaton, Emily Blunt and Michael Douglas if it goes into production. Douglas would also serve as executive producer.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2021, Kassell was chosen to direct a new adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz at New Line Cinema.[13]

Television

Kassell has directed episodes of the series Cold Case and 3 lbs (both on CBS), The Closer (on TNT), The Killing (on AMC), Vinyl (on HBO)[14][15] and The Americans (on FX). She also is writing an adaptation of the book Bad Medicine for HBO.^{[citation needed]}

In 2018, it was announced that Kassell would direct the pilot for the HBO series Watchmen.[16][17] In January 2020, Kassell won the Directors Guild of America Award for Dramatic Series for directing the Watchmen episode "It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice".[1]

Kassell recently signed with WME.[18]

Personal life

Kassell is now living in New York City, with her husband and two children.[8] In an interview for a Complex article, Kassell described part of her ethnic identity and how it informed her work on the Watchmen series: "My father is Jewish and I am half-Jewish. We all lived in Charlottesville, and I’m just realizing in talking with you, that my ancestors escaped the pogroms of Ukraine. How much is there actually in my DNA history that I’m not even aware of that I am pouring into this?."[19]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Writer
2004	The Woodsman	Yes	Yes
2011	A Little Bit of Heaven	Yes	No

Short films

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer
1999	Jamie	Yes	No	No
	Spent Nation	No	Yes	No
2001	Slo-Mo	No	Yes	No
2002	The Green Hour	Yes	Co-producer	Yes

Television

Year	Title	Episodes directed
2006	3 lbs	"Disarming"
2006-2008	Cold Case	"One Night" "Sabotage"
2009-2010	The Closer	"Elysian Fields" "High Crimes"
2011-2014	The Killing	"Missing" "Keylela" "72 Hours" "Six Minutes" "Blood in the Water"
2013	Suits	"Zane vs. Zane"
2013-2015	The Following	"Havenport" "Reflection" "Unmasked" "Home" "The Edge"
	Rectify	"Modern Times" "The Future"
2013-2017	The Americans	"Covert War" "Dinner for Seven" "The World Council of Churches"
2015	Better Call Saul	"Alpine Shepherd Boy"
2015-2016	American Crime	"Episode Six" "Season Two: Episode Ten"
2015-2017	The Leftovers	"No Room at the Inn" "It's a Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt World"
2016	Vinyl	"Cyclone"
2017	Claws	"Tirana" "Teatro"
2018	Westworld	"Les Écorchés"
	Castle Rock	"Romans"
2019	Watchmen	"It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice" "Martial Feats of Comanche Horsemanship" "A God Walks into Abar"
2021	The Baby	Episode #1.1

References

External links

• Nicolekassell.com
• Nicole Kassell at IMDb

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