Kevin J. O'Neill

Kevin James O'Neill was born in Sacramento, California. After high school Kevin enlisted in the US Army and was assigned duty as a telephone lineman. After his spell in the military he attended Brevard Community College where he took classes in Fire Technology. He was recruited as a full-time firefighter by the Merritt Island Fire department as a result of his fine record as a volunteer firefighter. He was required to take an elective in Brevard Community College so he signed up for their drama classes. The first day in class he was cast immediately for a part in Bye Bye Birdy and although it was a small part in the play, he fell in love with acting. From that play a director cast him as Vince Fontaine in Grease. During his six years as a firefighter while attending Brevard Community College he did about 25 Plays, including lead roles in plays like "Deathtrap", "Bus Stop", "Dracula" and "Born Yesterday". He left the fire department in 1984 and moved to Orlando to pursue his dreams as an actor. He was soon cast in the film D.A.R.Y.L. directed by "Simon Wincer". After being cast in several commercials, building up his resume and becoming a SAG member he felt it was time to move to Los Angeles to further pursue his dreams. Kevin lived in Los Angeles for ten years in the 80's working in television and film and over 100 national television commercials. He worked on shows like "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman", "Beverly Hills 90121"and "Highway to Heaven." In the last two decades, Kevin has worked as a film director writing and directing short films through his production company Kevin O'Neill Productions. Kevin has written and directed the short films, "Screaming into the Wind", "Break", "Clark", "Captain Fin", "Lean", "Undertaking", "Swipe", "Perception", "Man in the Woods." His film "Undertaking" starred Los Angeles veteran Eddie Jemison and it would go on to win ten film festivals. Kevin has written the feature scripts "The Craftsman", "Resemblance", "50 Hours", "Thundersmack", "Trestles", "The Flamingo Kid" and "Pathfinder." Kevin is a Course Director at Full Sail University where he has taught directing for the last two decades. Kevin is always mentoring Full Sail students and he continues to teach acting in the Orlando area.