Kenneth A. Carlson

Kenneth A. Carlson directed and produced the feature length documentary, THE HEART OF NUBA, profiling the courageous and selfless efforts of Dr. Tom Catena, the sole doctor for a million patients in the war-torn Nuba Mountains of Sudan. The film opened theatrically to rave reviews in April 2018 in New York City while being released simultaneously across the US (30+ cities). THE HEART OF NUBA has been screened for US Congress on Capitol Hill, British Parliament's House of Lords at Westminster Palace in London, the Italian Senate in Rome, the Sudanese Parliament in Khartoum and the International Criminal Court in Den Hague. It has been projected in every continent and screened in a host of film festivals from Hollywood to Shanghai. Dr. Tom was awarded the prestigious $1.1 Million Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity in 2017 in Yerevan, Armenia. Maria Shriver serves as the film's executive producer and is currently on Hulu, iTunes, Amazon. Sony and the BBC. Carlson recently completed THOSE WHO SERVE, a long form documentary that documents the journeys of three psychologically wounded American combat veterans who've committed crimes and are now struggling to find a just outcome in the judicial system. The film gives viewers an unprecedented access to real-life courtroom dramas that takes painful, intimate, sometimes hopeful and sometimes sobering turns. Carlson has directed a series of live action short films for Feeln/SpiritClips owned by the Hallmark Chanel Media Company. His latest effort, DINER FORMAL, was their most watched short of 2015 and 2016. Previously, Carlson wrote, produced and directed, GO TIGERS!, a feature length documentary which premiered in the Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival where it was picked-up for distribution by IFC Films. The critically praised GO TIGERS! was released in 125 theaters domestically while enjoying an extensive release internationally. Among others, GO TIGERS! was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and a Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Documentary. It can currently be seen on Netflix and iTunes. During the press junket for GO TIGERS!, Carlson managed to direct, produce and shoot NBC's prime time, reality-based show, LOST. Blindfolded and ear-plugged, he was transported some 26 hours around the globe and dropped in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia with a goal of making it back to the Statue of Liberty. LOST generated strong ratings for the network. Shortly thereafter, he produced and directed several segments of the reality-based show, MEET MISTER MOM, for Full Circle Entertainment and Reveille Productions that aired during prime time on NBC. Carlson also produced AMARGOSA, an Emmy Award winning and Academy Award Finalist documentary featuring Marta Becket and her opera house located in remote Death Valley Junction, California. The picture has garnered a multitude of awards at major film festivals and is currently being aired on the Sundance Channel, Netflix and iTunes. Carlson produced the critically acclaimed and award-winning documentary, WILD BILL HOLLYWOOD MAVERICK, based on the life and times of legendary studio director William A. Wellman. This Academy Award Finalist and National Board of Review Best Documentary premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and can currently be seen on TMC, AMC and iTunes. For Carlson's independent film company, Carlson Films Inc., he produced STEPPIN' for DreamWorks Pictures about the contemporary dance phenomenon known as Soul Steppin'. He also directed, produced and wrote the feature film, SPECIAL DELIVERY, a romantic comedy starring Sean Young, Penny Marshall, Paul Dooley and Nell Carter. For nearly seven years, Carlson directed, produced and wrote more than 275 feature segments for AMERICA'S MOST WANTED which aired for 26 seasons on The Fox Network. His efforts have resulted in the capture and incarceration of more than 72 of the country's most wanted criminals. THE HEART OF NUBA/DOCTOR TOM is currently in development with ABC Signature to become a scripted series. Carlson will be executive producing along with Erica Messer. He is also in production on a documentary about Death Row inmate, Kevin Cooper, who has been incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison for over 36 years. Interviews for this feature length film include Nicholas Kristof and Kim Kardashian. Carlson's love for photography has taken him from the Arctic to Antarctica while his images have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Lindblad/National Geographic Travel catalogs and numerous other travel and entertainment websites. Carlson resides in Santa Monica with his wife, national recording artist, Katrina Carlson, and their three adventurous children. Carlson is a proud graduate of Brown University.