Kevin John Fitzgerlad
Director | Producer
Producer, Director Kevin John Fitzgerlad is an Award-Winning and Critically Acclaimed Haitian-Canadian documentary filmmaker of Indigenous heritage and African descent known for his renowned cult-classic theatrical feature documentary film Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme. It screened at numerous film festivals worldwide and won several awards including the HBO Documentary Award and Kodak Maverick Award. His films have been released theatrically, globally, and commercially broadcast on MTV Networks/VH1, B Sky-B, and SBS; and distributed on Video by Netflix, Palm Pictures, Universal, Sony and Agnes-B. Kevin has a diverse Indigenous and African lineage that includes Arawak, Kanak, Tureg, and Bantu.
He has extensive experience as documentary filmmaker, storyteller, sharing traditional knowledge and wisdom, creating and building communities, in a collective and collaborative process. Kevin combines culturally focused filmmaking as a way to share knowledge. He comes from a long Black Indigenous lineage with a strong understanding of culture and the spiritual teachings and impacts of colonization and barriers that plague Indigenous communities. With a passion in traditional cultural film, music, and dancing practice traditions that have a sense of identity and connections to the ancestors that's vital to community wellness and development, and sustainability. And as a holder of knowledge and living documents and humbled by traditional connection to our ancestry and stories to carry on these sacred practices with the utmost integrity.
Kevin was nominated for a Student Academy Award while at LACES (Los Angele Center for Enriched Studies) where he shot one of his first films with actor David Arquette and performed with fellow Unity Committee crew member Lucas McFadden aka Cut Chemist of Interscope music recording artists Jurassic-5 and the Grammy Nominated Ozomatli. Kevin is also a former radio and club DJ and music artist having performed with Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Wu-Tang Clan, Young MC, DJ Shadow, Macy Grey, The Black Eyed Peas, and Aloe Blacc. He attended USC Film School and was taught directing by Jay Roach, (Austin Powers), screenwriting by Robert Mckee and Oscar Williams (WGA), and sound by Tom Holman (inventor of THX) of Lucas film. He further mentored and apprenticed under directors D.A. Pennebaker and John Singleton, on the feature film Higher Learning for Columbia Pictures. Kevin directed and produced a documentary on Macy Gray for Columbia Records. He followed this with the film 7- Days In Paris about Ben Harper and his band The Innocent Criminals recording their final album for Virgin Records Lifeline at the all analog Gang Studio in Paris, France. Kevin was also the Director of Photography on the documentary film Soundz of Spirit, featuring Common, and was a Producer on the feature film Half Widow, the first feature film to be shot in Kashmir in over 20 years.
