THE TEAM
Kent Bassett (director, producer, editor) is an Emmy-nominated editor and director based in Brooklyn, NY. He’s edited a number of feature documentaries that have premiered at Tribeca Film Festival, SXSW, AFI Docs, Doc NYC, and on PBS. His latest film as editor is Not Going Quietly, which was nominated for Best Feature and Best Writing by the International Documentary Association.
Much of the drive to spend seven years making This Might Hurt came from Kent’s own struggle with chronic tendonitis and repetitive stress injury as a 22-year-old. Unable to type or even turn a doorknob without severe pain, he was forced to drop out of college. Although he saw several doctors and tried physical therapy, strength training, and opioids—his pain grew steadily worse. It wasn’t until he had an insight into the role of the brain in triggering real physical pain that he was able to completely recover.
After releasing This Might Hurt, Kent trained as a pain recovery coach and supports people to unlearn pain syndromes at Mind-Body Insight.
Marion Cunningham (director, producer, co-editor) is an Emmy-winning filmmaker who has produced series for Netflix, National Geographic, History, OWN, Discovery and A&E. Cunningham joined fellow Chapman University alum, Bassett, after meeting in NYC. She instantly connected with the story and after a multi-year journey, the two launched an Indiegogo campaign to procure finishing funds.
Arielle Siegel (impact producer) is an actor, voice over artist and writer based in New York. In addition to her creative pursuits she is also an active volunteer with a number of organizations including Astoria Mutual Aid Network, Astoria Food Pantry, and Water Resource Action Project. She is also a founding member and the former Director of Operations for the award-winning theater company Pipeline, which is now entering its 13th season.
Jonathan Kirkscey (composer) is a producer, cellist, and guitarist who regularly performs with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and Blueshift Ensemble, of which he is a founding member. He has scored the films Won’t You Be My Neighbor, Cigarette Girl, and Best of Enemies, which earned the International Documentary Association’s award for best original music in a doc feature.
OUR STORY
Kent and Marion spent over five years filming and editing this feature documentary in their off time between paid film & TV projects. Since it was challenging to track down funding, they invested their own free time and savings into the film on nights and weekends, with the help of a few key supporters.
The film had its world premiere at Austin Film Festival and is now in the midst of a two-year community screenings campaign. If you’re interested in hosting a virtual live screening, we encourage you to reach out to us at tmhfilm@gmail.com. 100% of the proceeds for This Might Hurt go towards creating affordable community screenings for diverse audiences around the globe.