Keith Famie
Keith Famie (born February 11, 1960) is an American television personality, chef, and executive producer and owner of Visionalist Entertainment Productions (VEP). Visionalist Entertainment Productions has been awarded eleven Michigan Chapter Emmy awards over the years for his human interest style films, which have all been broadcast on PBS. He is also known for being a contestant on the reality television series, "". He was the 14th person to be voted off and finished in 3rd place. Early life. Keith was born and raised in Farmington Hills, Michigan, United States. He resides in Novi, Michigan, and is the father  of two children, Josh and Alicia. While attending high school, he began working in restaurant kitchens. After graduation, he traveled the world working in hotels located in such places such as Brussels, Monte Carlo, and New York City. Career. Famie opened his own restaurant in 1988, which was called Les Auteurs: an American Bistro, and in the same year was recognized in "Food & Wine magazine" as one of the "10 Best New Chefs". Les Auteurs was featured in "Esquire Magazine's" "Best New Restaurants of 1988." In 1993, Famie began making television appearances in cooking segments for local Detroit television  stations. The popular segments ultimately led to several half-hour specials airing in Detroit. In 1998, he wrote a cookbook, "Famie's Adventures in Cooking", which is published by Sleeping Bear Press. In 1997, Visionalist Entertainment Productions was established by Famie, who created a series for various network-affiliate television stations based on his adventurous cooking in exotic locations around the globe. Produced both in short news format segments and hour-long documentaries, Famie quickly developed his own unique style of film production. Following his appearances on "Survivor", Famie continued his cooking-related writing and television appearances, albeit with a  larger following, hosting a television series, "Keith Famie's Adventures", for the Food Network, in which Famie traveled to various destinations to present local cuisine. According to the Food Network website, 30 episodes were produced. The pilot episode videotaped in Kenya debuted Monday, November 12, 2001. Another 28 half-hour episodes, and a one-hour special taped in Tahiti, were first broadcast in 2002. The title of his first post-Survivor cookbook, "Yes I Can Cook Rice and So Can You" referenced Famie's "Survivor" depiction. In 2003, Famie published "You Haven't Been There Until You've Eaten The  Food". The book was published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers in New York. There are over 130 recipes in this book, covering his visits to six foreign countries and three U.S. states. Documentary films. Since then, Famie and his VEP team have produced a wide range of primetime programs, all winning a total of eleven Emmy awards. VEP has also won several national awards for their productions. Visionalist Entertainment Productions has produced the following films: In 2019, Keith Famie and Visionalist Entertainment Productions released two documentary films - "Those on the Front Lines of Cancer" and "Blessed Solanus Casey's Journey to  Sainthood".