MJ Bassett is a multifaceted English creative professional, with a background in screenwriting, directing, and producing for both feature films and television. Her early ambition was to become a wildlife vet, which she pursued as a teenager in the UK, earning a license to run a wildlife rehabilitation center at a young age.
As a veterinary assistant throughout her teenage years, MJ was the youngest person in the UK to be granted a license to run a wildlife rehabilitation center. After leaving school, she transitioned into a career as a wildlife photographer and documentary maker, eventually becoming a host for various nature and science programs on television.
MJ's passion for genre storytelling led her to write and direct her first feature film, the World War One horror film DEATHWATCH, starring Jamie Bell, Matthew Rhys, and Andy Serkis. This was followed by the survival-horror feature WILDERNESS, starring Toby Kebbell and Sean Pertwee, and the heroic fantasy-adventure SOLOMON KANE, based on the classic fantasy novellas by Robert E. Howard, starring James Purefoy, Max Von Sydow, and Pete Postlethwaite.
MJ's subsequent projects included the video game adaptation SILENT HILL: REVELATION, shot in 3D and starring Sean Bean, Adelaide Clemens, and Kit Harington. She then began directing in television, initially guest directing episodes of the Cinemax/HBO/Sky military action show STRIKE BACK, before becoming the lead director and executive producer of the show, which ran for multiple seasons.
During this time, MJ also directed the first season finale of Starz' show DA VINCI'S DEMONS, created by David Goyer. Her additional television credits include POWER for Starz, IRON FIST for Marvel/Netflix, NIGHTFLYERS for Syfy, ASH VS EVIL DEAD for Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert at Starz, THE PLAYER for NBC, TAKEN for NBC with Europacorp, REACHER for Amazon/Skydance, ALTERED CARBON for Netflix/Skydance, and THE TERMINAL LIST for Amazon/MRC, among numerous other credits.
MJ's recent feature credits include ROGUE, an Africa-set action thriller starring Megan Fox, and ENDANGERED SPECIES, starring Rebecca Romijn and Philip Winchester, both of which feature strong environmental and conservation themes. In 2023, she is in post-production on Millennium Films' RED SONJA, set for release in 2024.
In 2018, MJ publicly came out as transgender. She spends a great deal of time shooting on locations around the world and divides her time between the UK and her home in the hills of Topanga Canyon just outside Los Angeles.
