M. J. Bassett

M. J. Bassett
Born	Newport, Shropshire, England
Occupations	Screenwriter film director television director television producer television writer film producer
Children	3

M. J. Bassett (born Michael J. Bassett) is a British film and television writer, director, and producer. She began her career directing the cult horror films Deathwatch (2002) and Wilderness (2006). She also directed the dark fantasy Solomon Kane (2009) and the video game adaptation Silent Hill: Revelation (2012). Since 2012, she has worked as a director, writer, and producer on television series such as Strike Back, Ash vs Evil Dead, Power, and Altered Carbon. She is transgender, coming out in 2017.

Early life

Bassett grew up in Newport, Shropshire, in the West Midlands, where she was educated at Adams Grammar School. Basset described this as a "safe, unremarkable childhood". She developed an obsession with wildlife and nature; Bassett's fascination with films would not arise until much later. Bassett's childhood aspirations were to be a wildlife veterinarian in Africa. Because of her grades in school, a veterinary career became out of the question, and at the age of 16, Bassett left school and became a wildlife filmmaker'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,^[1] 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 considered the career change.

Bassett then 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's screenplay titled No Man's Land generated significant interest. 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.^[2]

She is the current director of Red Sonja, after it had been reported Hannah John-Kamen and Joey Soloway had departed from the film.^[3]

Personal life

In 2017, Bassett came out as trans.^[4] She has two daughters, Maddie and actress Isabel,^[5] and one son, Tom.^[6]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
2002	Deathwatch	Yes	Yes	Associate	Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Silver Nominated – International Fantasy Film Award for Best Film Nominated – Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Gold Nominated – Molodist Festival Award for Best Feature Fiction Film Nominated – Neuchâtel Narcisse Award for Best Feature Film Nominated – Sitges Maria Award for Best Film
	The Abduction Club	2nd unit	No	No
2006	Wilderness	Yes	Yes	No
2009	Solomon Kane	Yes	Yes	No	Fantasporto Audience Jury Award
2012	Silent Hill: Revelation	Yes	Yes	No	Nominated – Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Film
2019	Inside Man: Most Wanted	Yes	No	No
2020	Rogue	Yes	Yes	Yes	Wrote the screenplay with her daughter, Isabel
2021	Endangered Species	Yes	Yes	Yes	Wrote the screenplay with her daughter, Isabel
TBA	Red Sonja	Yes	Yes	No

As a film crew

• Shooting Fish (1997) (Electronic Press Kit Producer)
• Waking Ned (1998) (Electronic Press Kit Director/Producer)
• Gabriel & Me (2001) (Electronic Press Kit Director)
• Close Your Eyes (2002) (Electronic Press Kit)

Television

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1998	Bugs	No	Yes	No	3 episodes
2012–18	Strike Back	Yes	Yes	Executive	15 episodes
2013	Da Vinci's Demons	Yes	No	No	2 episodes
2015	The Player	Yes	No	No	2 episodes
2015–16	Ash vs Evil Dead	Yes	Yes	No	4 episodes
2015–18	Power	Yes	No	No	4 episodes
2018	Taken	Yes	No	No	Episode: "Imperium"
	Iron Fist	Yes	No	No	Episode: "Target: Iron Fist"
	Nightflyers	Yes	No	No	Episode: "Greywing"
2019	Altered Carbon	Yes	No	No	2 episodes
2020	Motherland: Fort Salem	Yes	No	No	Episode: "Bellweather Season"
2022	Reacher	Yes	No	No	Episode: "Pie"
2022	The Terminal List	Yes	No	No	Episode: "Consolidation"
2023	Quantum Leap	Yes	No	No	Episode: "The Lonely Hearts Club"

References

1. Biography Archived 30 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine
2. "EAT MY BRAINS! – Interview with M.J. Bassett, Director of Wilderness – Feature Article". eatmybrains.com.
3. "RED SONJA Reportedly Finds A New Director As ANT-MAN AND THE WASP Star Hannah John-Kamen Drops Out". Comic Book Movie. 9 March 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
4. "Director MJ Bassett".
5. "Isabel Bassett". IMDb. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
6. Collis, Clark (20 July 2020). "Megan Fox's mercenary takes on a lethal lion in trailer for action movie Rogue". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 22 July 2020.

External links

• M. J. Bassett at IMDb
• Comingsoon.net movie news^{[permanent dead link‍]}