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Kevin Willmott is a screenwriter, filmmaker, playwright, actor and activist. He grew up in Junction City, Kansas and attended Marymount College receiving his BA in drama. After graduation, Kevin returned home to work as a peace and civil rights activist, fighting for the rights of the poor. He helped create two Catholic Worker shelters for the homeless and pressed for the integration of several long standing segregated institutions. Kevin attended graduate studies at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, receiving several writing awards and his MFA in dramatic writing.

His play, T-Money and Wolf, co-written with Ric Averill, dealing with the holocaust and contemporary gang violence, was selected as part of the New Vision/New Voices series produced by the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The play is published by Dramatic Publishing. As screenwriter, Kevin co-wrote, Shields Green and the Gospel of John Brown with Mitch Brian. The script was purchased by Chris Columbus’ 1492 Productions for 20th Century Fox. He also co-wrote Civilized Tribes for producer Robert Lawrence and 20th Century Fox. Producer and director Oliver Stone hired Kevin to co-write Little Brown Brothers, about the Philippine Insurrection. Kevin also adapted the book, Marching to Valhalla, by Michael Blake for Oliver Stone. For television, Kevin co-wrote with Brian, House of Getty and The 70s, both mini-series for NBC. The 70’s aired in May of 2000.

Ninth Street, an independent feature film, starring Martin Sheen and Isaac Hayes, was written, produced and co-directed by Kevin. He also played the role of Huddie, one of the film's main characters. Ninth Street is a comedy/drama based on Kevin's experiences growing up in Junction City, Kansas, a small town adjacent to an army base. Set in 1968, the film deals with the last days of one of the most notorious streets in the nation. It is distributed by Ideal and was released in November of 1999 on video and DVD.

Kevin also adapted The Watsons Go To Birmingham for CBS, Columbia Tri-Star and executive producer, Whoopi Goldberg. Kevin's film, C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America is his film depicting a revision of American history, depicting an America after the South won the Civil War. It was selected to for the 2004 Sundance Film festival and was sold to IFC Films. That film was also honored by Spike Lee's presentation. C.S.A. had its theatrical release in 2006. More recently, Kevin authored Colored Men, about the Houston riot of 1917, and Gotta Give It Up, a modern day adaptation of Lysistrata. One of Kevin's newest films, Bunker Hill premiered in Washington D.C. Bunker Hill stars James McDaniel, Laura Kirk and Saeed Jaffrey. Kevin's most recent projects include The Only Good Indian starring Wes Studi, and Wilt of Kansas. Kevin is an Associate Professor in the Film Studies Dept. of the University of Kansas. We're so very honored that Kevin has joined our writers community. You can browse through entries from Kevin's complete historical blog archives here.