About Dean and Nina

The Cornetts split their time between their residence in Alaska and their retreat in Kentucky.

Dean Cornett is a videographer and video-documentary producer. Much of his filming is done where he lives. His Alaska projects tend to concentrate on the land and the animals. In Kentucky, he directs his efforts toward recording the history and culture of the Appalachian area. He received notice on 2 February 2015  that his most recent documentary, Sugar Cane, Sorghum, and Stir-offs, has been picked up by KET, the Kentucky state PBS affiliate, and would begin airing in April 2015. His second-most-recent documentary, American Chestnut: Appalachian Apocalypse - which covers the history of the American chestnut and the early-twentieth-century blight that virtually wiped it out - is running or has run on a number of PBS stations.  In addition, Dean has, airing on various cable channels, a documentary about the vicious nature of the Civil War in the Southern Appalachians (Guerrillas and Bushwhackers: A Different Civil War),  another about the return of black bears to Eastern Kentucky (The Bears of Kingdom Come) and a number of others about disappearing mountain skills such as iron-working and hog killing.

Nina Cornett is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy – the highest position attainable in the Navy hierarchy by a non-political-appointee. During her tenure with the Navy, she was responsible for overseeing automation projects for US navy ships and managed a two-billion-dollar annual budget. She is the author of Alaskan Summer, a novel published in hardcover by Avalon books and in paperback by Dell publishing. She has also researched and written scripts for her husband’s documentaries, including American Chestnut and Sugar Cane, Sorghum, and Stir-offs, the documentaries currently airing on PBS stations. She is presently working on a memoir of her mother’s death, tentatively titled Faultlines and Fractures, and is in the beginning stages of development for a mystery set in Alaska.

In addition, Nina is a member of the Kentucky Supreme Court's Access to Justice Commission. She welcomes input from Kentuckians concerning their experiences with the justice system and their suggestions for improving access to  it. Email her at ngcornett@aol.com or use the contact form on this site. 

Besides their creative endeavors, the Cornetts established and are officers of a non-profit corporation, the principal mission of which is to improve the environment and economic conditions of Eastern Kentuckians. Click here to visit that web-site.