Neil Schell
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Neil Schell grew up in the small Canadian city of Regina avidly watching whatever movies and cartoons he could find on the vast choice of two TV channels. Of course it was all in black and white. He fondly remembers his parents and their friends discussing "color TV." He could only imagine the console being red or green or blue.
Regardless of his misconceptions about color TV, his family was one of the first on the block to get an actual color TV. Every week, every kid in the neighborhood would pile into his parents' living room to watch the newest Star Trek episode.
Soon enough, Neil was able to go on his own or with his brothers to the downtown movie theaters like The Roxy, The Met, The Broadway or The Capitol and pay 35 cents for a double feature on Saturdays. While the Three Stooges and Topo Gigio movies were around he most enjoyed the 30th year anniversary re-release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Sound of Music (which his mother took him to), Bonnie and Clyde, Ben Hur, Planet of the Apes, Matt Helm, James Bond, Elvis Presley movies, Jungle Book and on and on.
Movies got lost into the background of living for awhile but never a day passed when he wasn't thinking of acting in them. Since there seemed to be no path to that goal within reach, he went along with other strengths he had like math and physics. He got his pilot license at the age of 18. A man always looking for adventure.
And then it happened. On that fateful day in 1977 at the ripe age of 20, Neil was sitting in a movie theatre in New Westminster, B.C. watching Star Wars. HIs empathy with Luke was overwhelming to the point of him making a very big decision - to be an actor and make movies for real. Was there a specific scene? Yes. After the tragic death of Luke's aunt and uncle, the metaphorical sunset of the two suns that represented these lovely souls who raised him blew Neil away. That was what movie making was all about.
Neil soon found himself in an acting class with Alex Bruhanski, an actor from New York who had recently relocated to Vancouver. Still nervous and unsure of his acting abilities, Neil did not go all in... yet.
First, he wound up studying editing and working on an editing team in Southern California. He did some acting classes and worked in a few industrials but mostly was learning and practicing the fine art of editing. He even worked in the post production area as a lab liaison where he found himself hanging out at FotoKem in Burbank for days on end. It is during this period that Neil embraced the beauty and art of film making unintentionally.
Not loving the Southern California way of life, Neil longed for the fresh air and mountains of B.C. He went back to Vancouver and, on the advice of his brother Scott, opened up an acting school that would teach not just acting but also how the actor affected the editor's work. A unique concept. The Actors Working Academy was born.
Neil found himself completely tied up in administrative work with 12 acting teachers and hundreds of students. He turned over his ownership to others and went after acting roles and ventured out, teaching acting workshops across Canada. This is when he landed dozens of commercials, roles in such productions as The A-Team (Liam Neeson), Watchmen (Zack Snyder), Fringe (Akiva Goldsman), etc., etc.
And, as fate would have it, one weekend teaching actors in Edmonton, Alberta, Dorothy Ghettuba, a Kenyan living in Canada doing corporate work, was one of his students. She wanted to dive into the creative industry of film and TV and Neil's teaching was her catalyst. She quit her job, moved to Toronto and eventually back to Nairobi, Kenya, her homeland. A few years later Neil would be on set in Nairobi, directing 26 episodes in a row of a Kenyan TV series Higher Learning for Dorothy. Dorothy has since gone on to be an executive at Netflix for original series content for Africa.
A new chapter had begun. The skills Neil developed for training and working with actors and his extensive experience editing film as well as his own acting experience all fused into his new career of directing. He went on to direct over 150 episodes in Kenya, several episodes in Canada, numerous short films and one feature that he wrote (unfortunately that film did not get the final funding needed to finish). He has also developed an animated feature of an African superhero that is about to go storyboarding in the very near future.
Neil has a slate of four feature films in development and expects to go to camera on the first one in early 2025.
Regardless of his misconceptions about color TV, his family was one of the first on the block to get an actual color TV. Every week, every kid in the neighborhood would pile into his parents' living room to watch the newest Star Trek episode.
Soon enough, Neil was able to go on his own or with his brothers to the downtown movie theaters like The Roxy, The Met, The Broadway or The Capitol and pay 35 cents for a double feature on Saturdays. While the Three Stooges and Topo Gigio movies were around he most enjoyed the 30th year anniversary re-release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Sound of Music (which his mother took him to), Bonnie and Clyde, Ben Hur, Planet of the Apes, Matt Helm, James Bond, Elvis Presley movies, Jungle Book and on and on.
Movies got lost into the background of living for awhile but never a day passed when he wasn't thinking of acting in them. Since there seemed to be no path to that goal within reach, he went along with other strengths he had like math and physics. He got his pilot license at the age of 18. A man always looking for adventure.
And then it happened. On that fateful day in 1977 at the ripe age of 20, Neil was sitting in a movie theatre in New Westminster, B.C. watching Star Wars. HIs empathy with Luke was overwhelming to the point of him making a very big decision - to be an actor and make movies for real. Was there a specific scene? Yes. After the tragic death of Luke's aunt and uncle, the metaphorical sunset of the two suns that represented these lovely souls who raised him blew Neil away. That was what movie making was all about.
Neil soon found himself in an acting class with Alex Bruhanski, an actor from New York who had recently relocated to Vancouver. Still nervous and unsure of his acting abilities, Neil did not go all in... yet.
First, he wound up studying editing and working on an editing team in Southern California. He did some acting classes and worked in a few industrials but mostly was learning and practicing the fine art of editing. He even worked in the post production area as a lab liaison where he found himself hanging out at FotoKem in Burbank for days on end. It is during this period that Neil embraced the beauty and art of film making unintentionally.
Not loving the Southern California way of life, Neil longed for the fresh air and mountains of B.C. He went back to Vancouver and, on the advice of his brother Scott, opened up an acting school that would teach not just acting but also how the actor affected the editor's work. A unique concept. The Actors Working Academy was born.
Neil found himself completely tied up in administrative work with 12 acting teachers and hundreds of students. He turned over his ownership to others and went after acting roles and ventured out, teaching acting workshops across Canada. This is when he landed dozens of commercials, roles in such productions as The A-Team (Liam Neeson), Watchmen (Zack Snyder), Fringe (Akiva Goldsman), etc., etc.
And, as fate would have it, one weekend teaching actors in Edmonton, Alberta, Dorothy Ghettuba, a Kenyan living in Canada doing corporate work, was one of his students. She wanted to dive into the creative industry of film and TV and Neil's teaching was her catalyst. She quit her job, moved to Toronto and eventually back to Nairobi, Kenya, her homeland. A few years later Neil would be on set in Nairobi, directing 26 episodes in a row of a Kenyan TV series Higher Learning for Dorothy. Dorothy has since gone on to be an executive at Netflix for original series content for Africa.
A new chapter had begun. The skills Neil developed for training and working with actors and his extensive experience editing film as well as his own acting experience all fused into his new career of directing. He went on to direct over 150 episodes in Kenya, several episodes in Canada, numerous short films and one feature that he wrote (unfortunately that film did not get the final funding needed to finish). He has also developed an animated feature of an African superhero that is about to go storyboarding in the very near future.
Neil has a slate of four feature films in development and expects to go to camera on the first one in early 2025.
