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I was able to sit down with the creator of Kenan and Kel, Kim Bass, as he went over his fantastic career in the television sitcom world and his latest film, A Snowy Day in Oakland. Check out what Kim Bass had to say in my interview and check out my video interview with him down below!
THH: I’m here with the creator of “Kenan and Kel” and the writer of “Sister, Sister” Kim Bass. How are you, sir?
Bass: I’m doing fine. Absolutely. And thanks for that introduction. Yes, I created Sister, Sister first and then after Sister, Sister, I created Kenan and Kel, and those were fun times and great projects to get set up, so I was very fortunate.
THH: Okay. So, tell the audience about your upbringing. Where’d you grow up? How’d you grow up?
Bass: I grew up in a small city in the center of New York State called Utica, New York, and I was born there, and I lived there until I was about seven and a half years old after which time we moved outside the city to a small town called Frankfort, New York, just a few minutes away. And I have a brother and four sisters and had a pretty interesting upbringing, I suppose, was not something that maybe a lot of people have experienced going from a very urban setting to a very rural setting from streets and alleys and lots of activity to a very rural setting in a small house on 30 acres, up 30 acres of land where your neighbors were a quarter of a mile away. So that was a shock to the system, so to speak, and transitioned from a very sort of city life to a very sort of country life. But it was a good move. My mom grew up in the country and wanted her children to experience that, so we ended up out in the country.
THH: Okay, and how did you get your first start in film and the TV world, what made you want to get into this business?
Bass: Oh, that’s an interesting story. I think one late evening, my grandfather came to our small apartment in Utica and said that he wanted to take me to the cinema. I didn’t even know what the word meant and because normally I would either go to church with my grandfather or go fishing with my grandfather, and cinema was a new word, so I figured he was dressed somewhat nicely and it was dark, so I guess we’re, we’re not going fishing, so maybe it’s some kind of a church thing. And we got on a city bus and went to a theater called The Uptown Theater, and that was the first time I had ever gone into a movie theater. And the movie was Disney’s Miracle of the White Stallions. And I watched that film, sitting dead center in that theater with my grandfather. And I was amazed by the sound and the visuals and the story and all the excitement. And that evening when I got home, I asked my mom, I said, who makes movies? And she said, they’re made in Hollywood, a place called Hollywood very far away, and that’s where the people are. And I said to my mother, I think they’re the magic people, and when I grow up, I’m going to be one of the magic people. I’m going to make movies. And so that was the bug, and I never let go of that dream.
THH: Okay. Kenan and Kel, how do you arrive at a project that’s as iconic as Nickelodeon’s Kenan and Kel?
Bass: Well, what had happened on that one, I had created Sister, Sister previous to creating Kenan and Kel and I happened to be at one of these sort of typical Hollywood parties, birthday parties, up in the hills outside by a pool. And I was introduced to an executive and when she heard my name, she said, “Kim Bass?” I said “Yes.” She said, “We’ve been looking for you.” I said, “You have, why?” And she said, “Well, we would like you to create a show for us. We’re big fans of Sister, Sister, and we have these two actors, Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, who are on a show called All That for us on Nickelodeon, a sketch comedy show for kids. And we think that they would make a great pairing in a sitcom. And so we exchanged information. A couple of months later, I received a call, and then next thing you know, I’m on an airplane flown to Orlando, Florida to meet Kenan and Kel while they were on the set, filming all that. And after that meeting came back to Los Angeles and started working on the idea for their sitcom. And that sitcom became Kenan and Kel. And it was based on my experiences growing up with my best friend Tyrone. And so, Kenan and Kel is sort of a manifestation of our sort of wacky ideas and activities that we had growing up in upstate New York.
THH: Okay. So tell us more about your latest film A Snowy Day in Oakland.
Bass: Okay, so, A Snowy Day in Oakland opened in theaters on March 17th. So this past Friday nationwide, and again, I went back to my roots as I often do, not always, but often do for creations. And this particular story was based on childhood activities in the city of Utica, particularly around a street called Liberty Street. And there were various happenings growing up that I remember and most of them fondly about the energy and the activity and the camaraderie and the community, almost magical aspects of it, certainly seen through a child’s eyes. And so I used that as my jumping off point to create the story, which eventually becomes A Snowy Day in Oakland, even though it’s Oakland, that’s sort of a mislead. The actual inspiration is Utica. And the street that I manufactured and placed in this world in Oakland is literally a real street called Liberty Street in Utica, New York. And the nugget for that story came from the relationship between my aunt and my uncle, one of my aunts and one of my uncles. And it was very traumatic at one point, and then very healing at another point. And so that became one of the sparks to create this story. But then of course, it takes on as many stories do a life of their own. And many political socio economic and emotional aspects are then woven into that story, which became A Snowy Day in Oakland, which is a magical urban comedy or dramedy, if you will, which explores healing and forgiveness and help and hope and most of all love. And then your own personal feelings about what your place is in this big bad world in which we live. And so it’s complex on one level and a simple story on another level, but it ultimately is a very entertaining and enlightening film, and I’m very proud of it. And it’s in theaters, as I say right now, nationwide. And I hope a lot of folks have an opportunity to go out and see the film. And again, that show like Kenan and Kel, that film like Sister, Sister sprang from my own beginning, sprang from my own experience as a child, Sister, Sister was actually conceived and based on my own twin sisters. Now their lives weren’t exactly like that of Tia and Tamara because they were never separated, but if they had been separated, I always felt that the universe would put them back together. So that was a very sort of easy creation for me. Having grown up with twins and like Kenan and Kel and like A Snowy Day in Oakland. All three of those particular creative endeavors are extremely personal to me. I do lots of other things, but those three are particularly close to my heart and come from being in a place with wonderful people who allowed me to flourish and allowed me to achieve my dreams to become a filmmaker. And so those three projects are particularly special to me.
THH: So what exactly attracts you to a certain project? What is the “it” factor that makes you want to be part of something?
Bass: Well, generally speaking, it has to speak to me. It has to be something that I would want to be part of, something that I would want to watch, something that I would want to pour my creative energies into. And more recently than not, the projects are ones that I create, I personally create because obviously I know those stories best. So, I’m writing my own films and getting them produced. I’m creating the TV shows that spring from the well of not only information, but inspiration that I have. And so when a story strikes me, then if I can somehow put it together in a way that I can share that idea with other people and they get the same amount of joy from hearing about that story or the anticipation of seeing that story, then that in itself continues to feed my energy, which helps me to then create that particular piece of material.
THH: Okay. So do you have any upcoming projects even after A Snowy Day in Oakland?
Bass: Yeah, always working on something new. There’s a very interesting sort of campy horror thriller which explores both faith and some of the unexplained evil that’s in the world. But I’m doing it through the vehicle of a campy horror thriller picture. And at present that’s being developed. The title of that, certainly the development title is “A Lawyer, The Devil, Three Priests and a Nun”. And so that’s a very interesting project that I’m working on. And we’ve attached Claudia Zevallos to play the nun, and that is after having worked with her on a couple of films, Day of Days where she starred opposite Tom Skerritt in a two character feature film, Tyson’s Run and then now of course she has a starring role alongside with the rest of the ensemble cast in A Snowy Day in Oakland. So, based on those experiences and what I know she can bring to the table as far as her charismatic capacity to express herself on film, I thought that that type of role would be something worth exploring with her as the lead. So that’s one project that’s in development. And then I have another project that’s in development. We’re actually, we’re a little farther along than development. We’re actually at the stage where we’re casting, but I can’t go into the particulars about the casting process because we’re in negotiations. But it’s a huge samurai story.
It’s called the “Yasu K”, and it’s the story of an African enslaved person who eventually is brought to Japan in the late 1500s by a Catholic priest who was in charge of all of the far east outlets or outposts for the Catholic church. And this particular person goes from being an enslaved person to becoming a samurai warrior, elevated to one of the highest statuses in Japanese society, and ends up becoming an integral part of Oda Nobunaga, who was the most powerful warlord in Japanese history with his attempt at unifying Japan into one country when they were multiple sort of fiefdoms battling one another. So it’s an incredible true story, and if the best way I can describe it is The Last Samurai meets Gladiator meets Black Panther, except it’s real. So that’s something I’m very excited about. And as I say, we’re already location scouting in Japan. We’re already negotiating with actors to be in this road. So it’s not quite there yet, but we’re very close. So those are the two projects that I working on diligently and they take up a great deal of my day. But at this point, obviously the job is to push A Snowy Day in Oakland. So there are lots of appearances, and to get people to go out and see this wonderful film that we’ve put together.
THH: What advice do you have for other young filmmakers?
Bass: Well, again, first of all, you have to dream, which it’s easy to do when you’re young, is to dream. But then you have to convince yourself that those dreams can become real because they can. That’s the one thing about the entertainment business in general. There is no one way in, there’s no one ladder to success. And it all starts with having a dream to be doing something where you can express yourself artistically. So believe in yourself and then surround yourself with those who believe in you as well, or at least respect your dream. They might not have to believe what you believe, but they have to respect the fact that you believe it, and that’s something that you would want to achieve. I was fortunate. I had a mother who, or have a mother who 100% threw her belief into allowing me to flourish and to go after my dream. It was never poo-pooed upon. It was always encouraged and supported at a certain point, she even helped pay my rent out here in Los Angeles so that I could write a screenplay and not worry about how I was going to get my rent paid. While I was working hard to try to establish myself as a writer in Hollywood, that kind of support, I know it’s rare, but there were also many friends and family members and loved ones who in particular would always offer some advice of encouragement. And then also people have connections. You never know who knows whom unless you ask and if you have a screenplay, the thing about writing a screenplay is it’s a lonely process, but once you’ve written it, you have to get others to read it. And the best way to get others to read it is to network. And if you’ve done your job and you’ve made a compelling story and you put it on paper, eventually it gets into the right hands, they read it, and then they might push it up the ladder to someone else. And the next thing you know, you’re sitting in an office somewhere having a meeting regarding this screenplay that you have. This business is hungry for stories. So the key is to keep pushing forward, to keep writing, or to keep pitching your ideas for a story. And if you want to be a filmmaker, cameras are easy to get. Now everyone has one in their pocket on their phone. You can make stories and it doesn’t really matter what you shoot it on, if you shoot a compelling story, people will take notice and then you get another opportunity, I believe, to then move on and make bigger, more compelling stories, but it all starts with a good idea and a story that not only you believe in, but also you believe that other people will be interested in the story that you’re trying to tell. But the key I believe, is to believe in yourself, surround yourself with others who at least either believe in you or are willing to support you in your own belief. And then just keep forward. Don’t give up. Don’t get out of line. You get out of line, somebody else takes your place and make as many connections as possible. I mean, my first screenplay sale came through a relationship with a very good friend who became one of my best friends, or if not my best friend, I met that person in Japan. But he came to visit me one day in Los Angeles and happened to say, oh, I’m going to go meet an old fraternity friend of mine from college, from Duke University, and that friend happened to have moved to Los Angeles and started his own independent production company. And I happened to be at that lunch and once the conversation got around to, so what do you do? I said, I’m a screenplay writer. Well, let me see your screenplay. And I hadn’t even finished it yet. And I finished it on a Thursday, got it to him on a Friday. And by Tuesday I had a deal on my screenplay. And that was my first sale, and that’s how I started writing. And from that day forward, I’ve done nothing other than write or direct.
THH: Wow, that’s compelling.
Bass: But I was ready. You have to be ready to take advantage of an opportunity. And when that happened, truth be told, I literally had only $19 and 67 cents left in the bank. But by that next Tuesday, I had a lot more.
