Spartan Profiles: Kevin Shaw

FROM ESPN TO FILM

            Imagine a job that involves hobnobbing with star athletes like Michael Jordan, producing features for ESPN’s SportsCenter and NFL Countdown, being nominated for an Emmy, and moving up the ranks of ESPN.  Would you give it up?  Well, in 2000 Kevin Shaw, ’95, decided to walk away from his promising career as a sports producer to try his ultimate passion, film making.  “You can only do so many this-athlete-is-good or this-team-is-bad stories,” explains Shaw, now living in Nashville, TN, and writer-director of a new independent film, Jeremiah Strong.  “After a while it becomes mundane.  I started to think, ‘Is there anything else out there for me?’” 

            Kevin enrolled in Nashville’s Watkins Film School and formed his own company, 23 Films.  His first film, How I Got It, won a “Best Short Film” award at the Houston Film Festival.  His current film has already received three awards and was shown in film festivals in 15 cities, including East Lansing.  “I just got this bug to tell stories visually,” he says.  “I’m still finding my voice as an artist, but I’m loving it.  Even if you see just one person truly moved by your film, it’s very satisfying and it validates all your hard work.” 

            A native of Chicago, Kevin picked MSU “because of the prestige of the journalism school” and became sports editor of the State News in 1994.  He also worked for a number of other media, including the campus radio station, the Lansing and Detroit newspapers, and Spartan Magazine.  “I loved MSU,” he recalls.  “It set the foundation.  My favorite professor was Sue Carter.  And I met my wife Cristine at MSU.” 

            Kevin says he and his wife remain avid MSU fans and follow the men’s basketball team on television.  “In fact,” he adds with a chuckle, “we’ve upset a number of our neighbors with our enthusiasm.”