Biography

Kevin Meyer is an American screenwriter, director, and producer whose career spans more than four decades. Born in Greeley, Colorado, he was raised in Denver, where his father worked as a documentary filmmaker. Weekends spent in movie theaters and museums fostered Meyer's passion for film and history.

Meyer briefly attended Princeton University before transferring to the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. There, he co-wrote and co-directed Divided We Fall (1982) with Jeff Burr. The film earned international acclaim, winning numerous film festival awards, including the Student Palme d'Or.

Early in his career, Meyer worked with his father on the independent horror film Terror at Tenkiller (1986), serving as assistant director and editor while also appearing in a small acting role. The film later developed a cult following and was restored and released in 4K UHD by Vinegar Syndrome in 2023.

He subsequently worked as second-unit director on Wanted: Dead or Alive (1986), starring Rutger Hauer, and Stepfather II: Make Room for Daddy (1989). That same year, Meyer wrote four episodes of the PBS historical series Oklahoma Passage (1989).

Meyer made his feature directorial debut with an adaptation of the Newbery Medal-winning novel Across Five Aprils (1990), set during the American Civil War. Acquired by New World Pictures, the film premiered on The Family Channel and won the Wrangler Award for Best Television Western of 1990.

He next wrote and directed Invasion of Privacy (1992) for USA Network, starring Robby Benson, and Under Investigation (1993) for New Line Cinema, starring Harry Hamlin. Both films were produced during the height of Hollywood's erotic-thriller era.

Meyer subsequently founded Buffalo River Films and entered into a multi-picture writing and directing agreement with Rysher Entertainment and Paramount Pictures. The first project was the mystery thriller Perfect Alibi (1995), adapted from the novel Where's Mommy Now, starring Teri Garr, Hector Elizondo, and Kathleen Quinlan.

For the second project, Meyer adapted the road adventure All the Western Stars and cast Jack Lemmon and James Garner in the lead roles. Cinematographer Freddie Francis and production designer Henry Bumstead, both two-time Academy Award winners, joined the production. Meyer spent the next three months preparing the film on location in Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Texas. Despite extensive preparation and expense, the production was postponed three weeks before principal photography due to cast scheduling conflicts and ultimately went into turnaround at Paramount.

The following year, Meyer co-wrote the romantic comedy A Smile Like Yours (1997) for Paramount, starring Greg Kinnear, Lauren Holly, Christopher McDonald, and Shirley MacLaine. He followed it with another original romantic comedy, Return to Sender, which was developed by Paramount but never produced.

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, Meyer developed multiple film and television projects through Buffalo River Films. In 2013, he wrote, directed, and co-hosted the pilot Game Day with Rex and Kevo (2013) alongside Rex Linn, a tailgate-cooking series featuring appearances by John Lithgow and Ed Harris. In 2016, he wrote and produced the PBS pilot American Con (2016), also starring Linn. Between 2014 and 2020, he produced and directed six documentary shorts for the National Museum of the United States Army in Washington, D.C., continuing the documentary tradition established by his father.

Most recently, Meyer co-adapted 12 Mighty Orphans (2021), based on the bestselling book of the same name and starring Luke Wilson, Martin Sheen, and Robert Duvall. Released by Sony Pictures Classics, the film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
- IMDb mini biography by: C. King