Kevin Coleman-Cohen was born and raised in St. Louis, MO. He is an accomplished film director, producer, educator, and advocate. While an undergraduate at Howard University, Kevin studied under acclaimed filmmakers Bill Duke (Sister Act 2, Hoodlum, Deep Cover) and Haile Gerima (Sankofa). He later worked with Duke on Angel: One More Road to Cross starring the late DMX and Mary J. Blige, and interned on the documentary Partners of the Heart, narrated by Morgan Freeman.
Kevin went on to earn an M.F.A. in Directing from the American Film Institute Conservatory, where he also worked with writer-producer Bill Blinn (Starsky & Hutch, Fame) providing script coverage. His work is driven by a commitment to amplify the voices of the unheard and undervalued, bringing their stories to a heightened consciousness.
In recognition of his contributions to film and community, Kevin was awarded an Honorary Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Entertainment & Arts Management from Harvest Christian University. In November 2023, he received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from President Joe Biden for his dedication to building stronger communities through service.
Beyond filmmaking, Kevin has been a long-standing advocate for homeless and at-risk youth in St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Oakland. His street outreach work, often serving youth engaged in survival sex work, earned him the National Network for Youth’s Youth Worker of the Year Award in 2006.
Kevin’s films have screened at major festivals including the Pan African Film Festival, the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, the Los Angeles International Film Festival, the St. Louis International Film Festival, the Black Harvest Film Festival, and Kansas City FilmFest International. He is currently developing Pretty Boy, a feature based on his award-winning short film of the same name.
Most recently, Kevin served as an associate producer on the documentary feature Catching Bullets, which premiered August 15, 2025, on Tubi and Amazon Prime. The film examines Black-on-Black youth gun violence in St. Louis through the life of Darren Seals, a former drug dealer determined to keep other young people from repeating his mistakes.
In addition to Kevin's film work he is an Assistant Professor of Communications at ST. Louis Community College. Kevin has been teaching since 2006 at several schools such as Pepperdine University, Santa Monica College, The University of Missouri at Kansas City, Lindenwood University, Southwestern Illinois College, and Columbia College Hollywood (California College of ASU).
