01
Jimi Plays Monterey
Producer · Hendrix Foundation
with D.A. Pennebaker
Est. 1994 · Los Angeles
Big SkyProductions
From cinema vérité to the algorithmic frontier
Origin
Three Decades at the Intersection of
Culture, Technology & Story
Big Sky Productions was founded in 1994 by Kevin Stein during his tenure as Executive Director of the Jimi Hendrix Foundation, where he oversaw landmark music documentary projects including collaboration with D.A. Pennebaker on Jimi Plays Monterey and clearance work on Don’t Look Back and Monterey Pop.
Rooted in the cinema vérité tradition and shaped by decades of executive leadership at HBO, CBS, MTV Networks, VH1, and King World Productions, Big Sky bridges the legacy of groundbreaking documentary filmmaking with the emerging possibilities of AI-driven storytelling and immersive media.
Kevin’s career spans network television, cable, syndication, and film, with consulting engagements for Disney, DreamWorks, Sony, Microsoft, NBC Sports, and Saatchi & Saatchi. His academic roles include Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College, faculty in the California State University, Long Beach Department of Cinematic Arts, and Teaching Assistant at Harvard Alumnae College. He has been a guest lecturer at CalArts, UCLA Extension, the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and Swarthmore College.
Today, Big Sky operates at the convergence of entertainment, technology, and human meaning—honoring the craft of visual narrative while exploring how artificial intelligence reshapes the creative landscape.
1994Founded
30+Years in Production
5Major Networks
IIEras · Analog & AI
A Proudest Moment
NASA’s Challenger Center for
Space Science Education
In the wake of the Challenger disaster, Kevin contributed to the production of an MCA Records/Universal special product compilation that helped launch the Challenger Center for Space Science Education—transforming grief into inspiration and ensuring that the crew’s mission to educate would endure.
“The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted;
it belongs to the brave.”
Selected Works
A Production Legacy
Five decades of cultural landmarks, brought together through a lifetime in production.
Career
Selected Credits & Positions
Film & Documentary
- Jimi Plays MontereyProducer / Hendrix Estate
- Searching for Jimi HendrixCreator / Soundtrack Producer / Doc with Pennebaker
- Don’t Look BackRights Clearance / Pennebaker
- Monterey PopRights Clearance / Pennebaker
- Frank Zappa: An American ComposerProducer / PRI
- Woodstock 25th AnniversaryProducer / Warner Bros.
- The Kids Are AlrightAssociate Producer / The Who
- When The Music’s OverProducer / HBO
- Music, Madness and the SixtiesProducer / CBS News
- It’s Only Rock and RollMTV Networks’ First Film
- Rock and Roll: The Early YearsProducer / Columbia Pictures
- The British InvasionProducer / Columbia Pictures
- Today In Music HistoryCreator / Program Series
Executive & Network
- HBOVP, Original Programs
- CBSDirector, Late Night / Interim VP, Specials
- King World ProductionsVP, Development / Oprah Launch
- MTV NetworksProducer
- VH1Producer
- BuzztoneChief Strategy Officer
Foundations & Institutions
- Jimi Hendrix FoundationCo-Founder / Executive Director
- Challenger Center for Space ScienceLaunch Contributor
- The Bridge Program, Antioch UniversityCo-Founder
- Les Paul FoundationConsultant
- In One InstantConsultant / Teen Safety
Academic
- Carnegie Mellon UniversityAdjunct Professor, Heinz College / MEIM
- California State University, Long BeachFaculty, Department of Cinematic Arts
- Harvard Alumnae CollegeTeaching Assistant
- CalArtsGuest Lecturer
- UCLA ExtensionGuest Lecturer
- USC School of Cinematic ArtsGuest Lecturer
- Swarthmore CollegeGuest Lecturer
Development
Projects Across the Cultural Landscape
TV Nation
with Michael Moore
Development work on the groundbreaking satirical newsmagazine series.
In The Dark
Joe Frank / Coppola / Fincher
A production collaboration with radio auteur Joe Frank alongside Francis Ford Coppola and David Fincher.
The Future Series
Rifkin / Syd Mead
A series about the future with Jeremy Rifkin and Syd Mead, the visionary designer behind Blade Runner.
The Rock and Roll Evening News
King World / Motown
A series co-production between King World Productions and Motown Records.
Current & Emerging
Where Production Meets the
Algorithmic Frontier
Signal Path Immersive
Co-founded with Philip Godwin and David Luff, Signal Path operates at the intersection of entertainment expertise and emerging AI capabilities—developing training, strategic frameworks, and immersive production methods for creative professionals navigating the AI transition.
AI & Creativity in Entertainment
At Carnegie Mellon University’s MEIM program, Kevin teaches AI, Creativity and the Entertainment Industry and Les Paul: A Journey Through Music and Innovation. He co-authored Artificial Muse: Reconciling AI and Human Creativity with Dr. Dan Green for the forthcoming Routledge volume AI in Arts Administration: Pedagogy and Practice.
Narrative AI Research
Big Sky’s current production work explores AI-generated visual storytelling through original narrative frameworks that keep human authorship at the center of algorithmically assisted production.
The Carbon-Silicon Covenant
An original intellectual framework examining the evolving relationship between human consciousness and artificial intelligence—informing Big Sky’s approach to production, pedagogy, and the ethics of creative AI.
Publishing & Authorship
Science Faction Press
Research and storytelling at the boundary between history, myth, and machine intelligence.
Rolling Stone Press / Dell
The Book of Rock Lists
The classic history of rock and roll, co-authored for Rolling Stone and Dell Publishing.
Science Faction Press
The American Inflection
A psychohistorical analysis of the early 21st-century crisis, framed as an Encyclopedia Galactica entry from c. 2487.
Science Faction Press
The Silicon Mythos
Lovecraft for the AI Era—a mythological exploration of artificial intelligence, cosmic dread, and ancient patterns.
Science Faction Press
Nova Alexandria
A meditation on what survives, what is lost, and what new architectures of knowledge emerge when intelligence is no longer exclusively human.
Science Faction Press
Tales of 1001 Algorithms
A retelling of the Arabian Nights for the AI Era—where Shahrazad narrates not to save her life, but to save the future.
Science Faction Press
Wormwood: A Fable of Seduction and the Supernatural
A supernatural Hollywood satire in which a shape-shifting power broker infiltrates the entertainment industry with a cursed screenplay capable of destroying everyone drawn into its orbit.
Science Faction Press
High Rubicon
The sequel to Wormwood—an Anti-Western/Sci-Fi novel exploring frontier mythology through technological disruption and human resilience.
Publisher TBD · with Dr. Howard Teich
The Secret of Complementarity: Living Beyond Binary Thinking
How archetypal psychology and Bohr’s complementarity illuminate questions of identity, myth, and AI.
Essays & Articles
The Vampire Theory of Rock and Roll
A cultural theory of how rock regenerates through the mythic cycle of death and resurrection.
Routledge · 2026
Artificial Muse: Reconciling AI and Human Creativity
A chapter co-authored with Dr. Dan Green for AI in Arts Administration: Pedagogy and Practice, examining early AI adoption in the music industry and the relationship between AI and human creativity.
Contact
Let’s Talk
For production inquiries, collaboration, consulting, and speaking engagements.
kevin@kevinstein.com