Filmmaker Kevin R. Hershberger grew up in Maryland, but moved to Virginia while attending the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. He majored in International Studies and History, graduating with the class of 1995. He then served as a Military Intelligence Officer in the United States Army.
Kevin is founder and President of LionHeart FilmWorks, LLC. With partner D.J. Perry the company produced the award-winning dramatic, Korean War-set short film "The Nest" (1999) – which aired on PBS and which has recently been released on DVD. Kevin next wrote and directed LionHeart's multi-award-winning feature film, "Wicked Spring" (2001) -- An epic character study of lost soldiers during the American Civil War. "Wicked Spring" has already won two awards for ‘Best Cinematography’ and Kevin’s awards include ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Action Feature’ at the 2002 New York International Independent Film Festival. Ardustry Home Entertainment released the film worldwide on home video/DVD in December 2003. The release has been a phenomenal success so far with more than 100,000 DVDs sold.
Kevin's worked on the big-budget feature films "Glory," "Gettysburg," "The Love Letter," "The Patriot" and on CBS TV's hit reality show "The Amazing Race." He was featured in Showtime's "Assault at West Point" starring Samuel L. Jackson and Sam Waterston. Back in September 1999 Kevin produced and directed a 60-minute Civil War musical concert film for the 2nd South Carolina String band. In the summer of 2008, a 'special edition' of this musical film will be released on DVD. In December 2002, Kevin worked on the music video to legend Bob Dylan’s "Cross the Green Mountain;"
In 2003, Kevin wrote and directed "Mystic Motel" ('Best Director' at the 2004 Vision Film Festival); and a national commercial for Time/Warner Books and best-selling author David Baldacci. In early 2004, Kevin shot and directed the short film "The Image,"
In 2004-2005, Kevin worked as 2nd Unit Director for Eleventh Day Entertainment's new documentary "For Love of Liberty," the story of African-American soldiers from the Revolution to Iraq. This 3-hour program will air nationally, and is hosted by Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry, and features the voice talents of Mel Gibson, Ossie Davis, Susan Sarandon, Jonathan Pryce and John Goodman.
In 2006, Kevin produced and directed interpretive films for the Green Spring and Yorktown Battlefields (225th anniversary events), as well as a new series of 35, hour-long documentary films for "The American Soldier Series" - a DVD series created by Kevin and partner John D. Pagano. The first DVD is titled "Von Steuben's Continentals: The First American Army," and the second will be the story of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Kevin also has plans for several follow-up feature films to shoot in the next few years.
As director, producer and screenwriter, Kevin completed work in 2006 on his second major feature film, "No Retreat From Destiny" which was distributed nationwide on DVD. The 106 minute film is a docu-drama detailing the third grand Confederate invasion of the north in 1864, and the ill-fated attack on Washington, D.C. and President Abraham Lincoln. In September 2006, Kevin directed/produced the new Indie-film "The Scarlet Letters" for production company Virginia Reel, LLC. This film is part of a seven-story feature about the seven deadly sins. Also in 2006, Kevin worked as Historical Producer on the upcoming PBS documentary "Rebel," the true story of Confederate cavalier, Loretta Valasquez.
In 2007, Kevin worked as the Historical Military Coordinator for the upcoming HBO, Tom Hanks produced mini-series "John Adams," and as Historical Coordinator for the upcoming feature documentary "Lafayette: The Lost Hero."
Also in 2007, Kevin founded a new production company based in Virginia - Race Day Films, LLC. This company produces human-powered sports films centered in the world of triathlons and marathons throughout the United States.
For 2008, Kevin will co-write/direct/produce an exciting new feature-length docu-drama titled, "Gettysburg: Darkest Days & Finest Hours." He'll also shot and direct a new DVD documentary on the 1778 Battle of Monmouth, as well as release a compilation DVD of his short form film projects for sale via the company website.
Kevin wrote his first screenplay while at VMI and most of his 15 scripts, thus far, deal with his passion for American history.
Several years ago, Kevin was featured in a segment of Indie-film guru John Pierson's cable television series "Split Screen" airing on the Independent Film Channel and Bravo. Of late, Kevin is a founder of the new Virginia Production Alliance, judge for the Virginia Governor’s Screenwriting Competition, and Jury panelist for the VCU International Student Film Festival. Kevin also sits on the advisory panel of the Virginia Governor's Motion Picture Committee and the Virginia Motion Picture Incentive Task Force.
Kevin has recently worked with companies Partisan Pictures (N.Y.C.), Tapestry International (N.J.), Indigo Films (San Fran.), Edelman Productions (San Fran.) and Digital Ranch (L.A.) on several projects for the History Channel, National Geographic and Discovery Networks. As a Director/Writer/Producer, Kevin fine-tuned his craft as a twelve-year member and officer of the prestigious Virginia Screenwriters Forum. "Wicked Spring," and all of LionHeart's upcoming feature projects represents Kevin's continued desire to show humanity and strong characters in exciting, historical-fact based projects.
Since 1999, Kevin's film projects have been awarded 45 national and international film festival and industry awards.
He currently lives and works in Richmond, Virginia.
