M. J. Bassett


M. J. Bassett is an English director, writer, and producer of film and television. She began her career directing the cult horror films Deathwatch and Wilderness, the dark fantasy Solomon Kane, and the video game adaptation . Since 2012, she has worked as a director and writer on high-profile television series like Strike Back, Ash vs Evil Dead, Power, and Altered Carbon. She is openly trans.

Early life

Born Michael J. Bassett, Bassett grew up in Newport, Shropshire, in the West Midlands, where she was educated at Adams Grammar School. Here, she enjoyed a life which she has described as a "safe, unremarkable childhood." Here she developed an obsession with wildlife and nature, Bassett's fascination with films would not arise until much later. Bassett's childhood aspirations were of being a wildlife veterinarian in Africa. With less than ideal grades in school, a veterinary career slowly became out of the question and at the age of 16, Bassett left school and became a wildlife film maker's assistant, where she would spend 18 months learning photography and film making.

Career

After her time as an assistant, Bassett decided to go back to school to do A-Levels in the hopes of getting a Zoology degree. Once back in school, Bassett wrote to a variety of TV producers, looking for work as a nature presenter. Eventually, Bassett was contacted by Janet Street Porter, shortly after which she began working as a presenter on the children's show Get Fresh, where she presented the science and nature segments. She left to work on other programs, but as work stopped coming in, she was losing interest. At this point, Bassett realized that she wanted to make films. Since moving into film-making would entail substantial risk, Bassett worked for a year animating and voicing the puppet Scally the Dog on Children's ITV, while she thought things over.
After putting Scally the Dog to rest, Bassett produced several short films, as well as a 16 mm piece for broadcast television. All the while, Bassett worked on feature scripts which she used to try to catch producers' attention. After a period of years, Bassett finally got some notice with a screenplay titled No Man's Land. Many studios offered to purchase the script, but Bassett was determined to direct the film of her screenplay. Eventually, one production company consented to this and the film was retitled Deathwatch. Bassett works currently on the $10 million project The Unblinking Eye, a serial killer film with Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the lead as detective John Calisto.

Personal life

In 2016, Bassett came out as trans. She has one daughter, Isabel.

Filmography

Film

As a film crew