Nicole Kassell

For her work on Watchmen, Kassell received numerous accolades, including a Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series for the episode "It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice" and, as an executive producer, a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, including a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

• Born — 1972 • Birthplace — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States • Education — Columbia University (BA) New York University (MFA) • Occupation — Filmmaker • Relatives — Lauren Kassell

Kassell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised in Charlottesville, VA where she attended St. Anne's-Belfield School. Her father, Dr. Neal Kassell, a University of Virginia medical professor, performed two brain surgeries on Joe Biden in 1988 to repair his aneurysm and the two have remained friends ever since. She earned a BA in Art history from Columbia University, and received her MFA from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. While a student at NYU, she made three short films, including The Green Hour, which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2002. While attending NYU she received full scholarship for two years.

Kassell has directed episodes of the series Cold Case and 3 lbs (both on CBS), The Closer (on TNT), The Killing (on AMC), Vinyl (on HBO) and The Americans (on FX). She also is writing an adaptation of the book Bad Medicine for HBO. In 2018, it was announced that Kassell would direct the pilot for the HBO series Watchmen. In January 2020, Kassell won the Directors Guild of America Award for Dramatic Series for directing the Watchmen episode "It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice". Kassell signed with WME in 2018.

Kassell is now living in New York City, with her husband and two children. In an interview for a Complex article, Kassell described part of her ethnic identity and how it informed her work on the Watchmen series: "My father is Jewish and I am half-Jewish. We all lived in Charlottesville, and I’m just realizing in talking with you, that my ancestors escaped the pogroms of Ukraine. How much is there actually in my DNA history that I’m not even aware of that I am pouring into this?"

Short film • Year — Title — Director — Producer — Writer — Editor • 1999 — Jamie • Spent Nation • 2001 — Slo-Mo • 2002 — The Green Hour Feature film • The Woodsman (2004) (Also writer) • A Little Bit of Heaven (2011) • The 99'ers (2027) Television • Year — Title — Director — Executive Producer — Episode(s) — Ref. • 2006 — 3 lbs — "Disarming" • 2006–2008 — Cold Case — "One Night" "Sabotage" • 2009–2010 — The Closer — "Elysian Fields" "High Crimes" • 2011–2014 — The Killing — "Missing" "Keylela" "72 Hours" "Six Minutes" "Blood in the Water" • 2013 — Suits — "Zane vs. Zane" • 2013-2015 — The Following — "Havenport" "Reflection" "Unmasked" "Home" "The Edge" • Rectify — "Modern Times" "The Future" • 2013–2017 — The Americans — "Covert War" "Dinner for Seven" "The World Council of Churches" • 2015 — Better Call Saul — "Alpine Shepherd Boy" • 2015–2016 — American Crime — "Episode Six" "Season Two: Episode Ten" • 2015–2017 — The Leftovers — "No Room at the Inn" "It's a Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt World" • 2016 — Vinyl — "Cyclone" • 2017 — Claws — "Tirana" "Teatro" • 2018 — Westworld — "Les Écorchés" • Castle Rock — "Romans" • 2019 — Watchmen — "It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice" "Martial Feats of Comanche Horsemanship" "A God Walks into Abar" • 2021 — The Baby — "The Arrival" • 2025 — Sirens — "Exile" "Talons"