Neil Kellen

A native of Henderson, Kentucky, a young Neil Kellen saw "Star Wars" at the ROSS theater in Evansville, Indiana and knew filmmaking was to be his destiny. He fondly recalls being taken by the crowd of people standing in line to watch this new space fantasy. Inside, when the prologue crawl started and that iconic music rang through the speakers, he was hooked. When the movie was over, he knew with certainty he wanted to make movies. Neil begged for a movie camera and a film splicing machine for his 11th birthday. It didn't come then, but luckily he met Gregg Hale who shared a similar interest. Gregg had already gotten an 8mm camera and began creating epic masterpieces on celluloid. Between the two of them, they churned out some 20 plus short scripts. Some of the more original titles included "The Crisco Creature" "Battle of the Bottles" and "Earth: Nuclear Holocaust". At that time, The Henderson Gleaner, a daily newspaper, took an interest in their activities and featured an article on their endeavors. They were local celebrities for a day. By Christmas, Neil finally had his own camera. Gregg and Neil continued their friendship and filmmaking dreams throughout high school and remain close today. In college, Neil pursued a radio and television degree while Gregg took a stab at military life. Gregg later went to film school, got involved in the Orlando film community, then finally found huge success with the "Blair Witch Project". Neil continued to hone skills by jumping into independent video production in the early 90's. For the last 13 years, he has worked in television news creating many of the visual stories you see every night on local television in market 103. Neil's family are long time Henderson residents. He is married and together he and his wife have six children -- three a piece from previous marriages. He is an AP recognized news photographer and Chief Photographer at ABC affiliate WEHT Evansville News25.