Biographie
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Herb Kossover earned his BA and Master's degrees in Communications from Columbia University. In 1971, he left New York to work as a photographer in promotions and publicity for Phil Walden, President of Capricorn Records, the largest independent record label at the time, representing artists like The Allman Brothers Band and The Marshall Tucker Band.
In 1980, Herb relocated to Atlanta to serve as cinematographer for Turner Broadcasting's inaugural original film series, "American Portrait with Hal Holbrook." With the emergence of MTV and music videos in the 1980s, he founded Panther Productions, contributing to iconic videos such as Billy Joel’s "Uptown Girl," "For the Longest Time," "Keeping the Faith," and "Baby Grand," Cyndi Lauper’s "Time After Time," Earth, Wind & Fire’s "Magnetic," and "Rum Tum Tugger" from the Broadway musical CATS.
Returning to television in the early 1990s, Herb directed the A&E series "First Flights," hosted by Neil Armstrong—Armstrong’s sole TV series post-astronaut career. He also directed numerous regional and national commercials for brands including Kroger, Coca-Cola, Buick, BellSouth, the US Post Office, and CitiCorp. His corporate work spans projects for Kraft Foods, The Palm, Siemens, Holiday Inn Worldwide, IBM, Samsung, and Pioneer Electronics.
With the 1990s introduction of WESCAM technology for filming 35mm aerial motion pictures, Herb played a key role in capturing aerial footage of U.S. cities such as Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, New York, and Los Angeles. His images are represented globally by Getty Images Worldwide and Corbis Motion in over 35 countries.
In 1996, Herb and his wife, producer/writer Amy Kossover, founded Kossover & Company. That summer, he served as director of photography for the official 1996 Atlanta Olympic documentary directed by Bud Greenspan. His acclaimed work led to his role shooting the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, also for Greenspan.
Entering the new millennium, Herb was Director of Photography for "Delgo," the first independently produced feature-length animated film, released in 2008 with voices by Lou Gossett Jr., Anne Bancroft, and Val Kilmer. During this period, he combined aerial and ground footage for promotional campaigns for networks including Fox, ABC, CBS, WB, and Turner Sports across cities like Las Vegas, Dallas, San Antonio, Atlanta, and New York. He also shot transitional scenes for NBC’s "The West Wing," aerials for CBS’s "CSI-New York" opening, and contributed to the pilot of ABC’s 2010 series "Detroit 1-8-7."
Recently, Herb worked on two national faith-based commercial campaigns for the North American Mission Board and directed the 2010 Emmy Award-winning faith-based documentary "A New Hope," highlighting the Angola Prison Bible College. A feature-length adaptation of "A New Hope" is in development.
His portfolio includes political campaign work, producing television spots for Georgia Senators Saxby Chambliss, Paul Coverdale, Zell Miller, and Governor Sonny Perdue. His images have also been featured in a PSA for former President George W. Bush.
Herb’s accolades include HBO’s "Ace" award, 18 Telly Awards, the Houston International Film Festival’s "Best of Show," the New York Film & Television Festival’s Mercury Award, the Aurora Award, National Emmys in 2003 and 2005 for NBC’s "The West Wing," plus over 20 additional best-of-show honors including four Regional Emmys.
He is a member of NATAS, NAPTE, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Georgia Production Partners. Herb resides in Marietta, Georgia with his wife and business partner Amy and their son Harrison.
