Meet Kevin Welch of Cinebite Media in South Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Welch.

Kevin, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was a bad student in school, thankfully my parents were educators and did their best to find a way through for me. I attended a vocational TV/Film program in high school and caught the bug. After a few failed college attempts I was 22, living in a crap apartment in my hometown working a dead end restaurant job and needed to get serious. I then attended Full Sail University 2010-2012 and got by my BA of Science in Film. After that I moved up to SC and stayed with my sister while I tried to find work in the then thriving Charlotte film scene. Through a family connection I got an interview to be an office PA for the stunt department on a Cinemax show called Banshee. I landed the job (I later found out I was the only person who showed up with a computer and resume in hand so… yeah). I was lucky enough to be welcomed into that family and stayed on the show from Season 2 through Season 4.

During the off season each year I would still try to Produce/Line Producer/UPM and 1st AD any project I could no matter the budget. Eventually I got to the point to where I was consistently 1st ADing shows and LPing or UPMing one or two small budget projects a year so I said goodbye to PA life. Fast forward another few years and I’m now a DGA 1st AD, working on various projects here in ATL and continuing to LP/UPM one or two projects a year but the budgets are growing. I’m very proud of my latest UPM gig which was a $2.5M SAG/IASTE feature shot in Nashville, TN that just got acquired by Netflix!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not. At. All. I didn’t have any other family in the “industry” and was figuring it out as I went as I didn’t have a mentor either. I had plenty of people I loved to work with and be around but no one that was on a similar path career wise in the industry. I could have been a lot more efficient and quicker with cracking the union nut (joining the DGA in my case) had I known what I know now back then. Also this industry is for most people a really financial hardship when first starting out, PA’s work some of the longest hours and are generally paid $10/hour so it can be hard to fully live a life on that salary. But it’s a struggle we all take and must walk the path of when starting out. If you keep the faith and work hard brighter (and more lucrative) days will come.

Please tell us more about your work. What do you guys do? What do you specialize in? What sets you apart from competition?
Cinebite Media is what my wife (Katie Carpenter) and I produce, package, and sell our original content under. It is also the entity I do all of my business through (I could go into a long winded explanation of the benefits of incorporating but I’ll spare you this time). Being a LP/UPM/AD I have the ability to break down scripts (create schedule/budgets and consult on tax credits, logistics, etc. etc.) and help get them packaged and financed. My wife is an incredible Actress and a talented Costume Designer so she has an eye for what looks good and knows how to execute that side. She’s also been writing and developing that skill set more and more. We see other “Hollywood Couples” really finding a lot of success so we had the classic “why not us” moment and decided to really start pursuing our own content development.

We partnered up with a fantastic writer, Chris Gervais, and optioned on of his scripts titled “Deathless” which we made a ten minute proof of concept on and are currently pitching the feature with the help of our EP’s Rob Hollocks and Nelson Cruz (see trailer here: https://vimeo.com/363966073). I think our ability to cover so much of the map between the two of us (Katie and I) sets us apart from others who may have one side of it figured out but not both. The collaboration of my logistics with her creativity.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Tough to just pick one but I would probably say when I got traveled to Pittsburgh to work on Banshee Season 4. It showed me that I was an integral part of the shows success and that I was valued enough to be flown up, housed, the whole distant hire thing. It was also my first experience being on the road with a show and although it was really hard it was also rewarding and further cemented my friendship with many on that series.

Pricing:

• Single Union Script Breakdowns start at $500 (that would be for either a schedule or a budget). $1000 for both and add’l $250 for each added union/guild
• $500 pitch deck services
• Free one time consult for creators out there who have projects in development and want to partner with us.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 7163073730
• Email: katerwelch@gmail.com
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4893028/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Image Credit:
Lola Scott, Sarah Marisa Newman, Andreyna Sanchez, Ken Jeong, Katie Carpenter

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