After appearing in a couple Warren Miller films in his early teens, Kevin Kerslake embarked on a path to emulate Miller and his other childhood hero, Bruce (Endless Summer) Brown, making surf, skate and ski/snowboard films throughout his hormonal years. Upon graduating from Loyola Marymount University’s film program, Kerslake became one of a handful of directors responsible for forging the visual identity of the MTV generation, directing award-winning videos for Nirvana, Green Day, R.E.M., the Rolling Stones, Smashing Pumpkins, Rise Against and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

With a trendsetting visual style infused with the urgency and kineticism of action sports but now working within larger themes, Kerslake’s iconic music video work, in particular, encouraged kids to give their parents the finger and bring the Establishment to its knees. At the same time, he was directing commercials for corporate giants like Nike, AT&T and Coca-Cola (which were subversively filled with subliminal messages that went undetected by the suits).

While Kerslake kept his seat at the table in those shorter formats, his work in longer ones was also keeping kids up late at night. With iconic core culture films (notably Nirvana: Live! Tonight! Sold Out!, The Ramones: We’re Outta Here! and Quiksilver’s Continuum), network dramas (Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi series The Visitor, and Fallen, a four hour mini-series), plus over two hundred live concerts, Kerslake has consistently had his finger on the pulse and shown a remarkable knack for eluding the authorities. In addition to appearing in numerous group and solo photography shows, Kerslake served as cinematographer on several Robert (The Americans) Frank projects, as well as having two pieces of his own included in the Whitney Museum’s Beat Generation and the New America exhibit.

Last year’s premiere for Kerslake’s Electric Daisy Carnival Experience sparked so much rabid fan interest that 10,000 people unexpectedly showed up to the invite-only premiere, prompting the riot squad to pay a visit, as well (with party favors – tear  gas and rubber bullets), forcing a shutdown of Hollywood Boulevard.