I am the co-founder of Knight Group, a holding company of the Knight Family Office that operates six companies in its portfolio; Knight Studios, a television and movie production company; Knight Vision Interactive, a video game development studio, Knight Events, an events management company that hosts annual conferences; Knight Coffee Co., a specialty coffee roaster and reserve; Knight Publishing, a book publishing company; and Brier & Thorn, a Managed Security Services Provider.

Alissa Knight is a writer, director and producer whose work has redefined the procedural crime genre for a new era, blending her background in cyber warfare with a cinematic vision that is both raw and deeply human. Her television series, including Shadow Unit (2025), Dark Ops (2024), Ransom (2022), HEAT (2022), Scorched Earth (2022), and Underdog Games (2022), have garnered international acclaim, winning numerous awards at the Cannes Film Festivals and the Telly Awards. These accolades are a testament to her ability to tell stories that resonate on both a technical and emotional level, capturing the intricacies of human conflict against a backdrop of cybercrime and high-stakes espionage.Knight’s journey into filmmaking is as unconventional as the narratives she weaves.

Arrested at 17 for hacking a government network, she transformed from an underground figure into a strategic advisor at the Pentagon where she advised the US Marine Corps General on securing global Marine Corps networks.In 2024, her contributions to both cybersecurity and cinema were immortalized when she was inducted into The Mob Museum, where her laptop and hacking gear now sit as part of their permanent cybercrime exhibit. Her deep technical expertise extends beyond storytelling; Knight is also experienced in editing and color grading her own series, ensuring that every detail of her productions meets her exacting standards.Alissa Knight’s films are a study in contrast—order and chaos, technology and humanity, light and shadow. She crafts narratives with the precision of someone who has lived at the intersection of these worlds, creating work that speaks to the complexity of our time.

"Build your dream or someone will hire you to build theirs."
Farrah Gray

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1991

Early Years

In 1991, I got my first job at 12 years-old working for a Japanese restaurant in Huntsville, AL. I saved my paychecks to build my first custom-built PC, which was a 486 SX/25 with 4MB of RAM, 40 MB HDD, and a 2400 baud modem. This opened the door to my fore into hacking when I discovered Internet Relay Chat and began meeting hackers from around the world. In 1993, my family moved to Seattle where I started my first BBS providing dialup access from users around the world to phone phreaking articles and other hacking tools and exploits I was hosting.
1997

Growing Pains

In 1997, I hacked a government network and was arrested at school a few weeks before my 18th birthday with the intent of prosecutors to try me as an adult. However, due to some mistakes made during my arrest, the District Attorney had no choice but to drop the charges. I then started my first company, which I sold to a public company when I was 20 for $2.4 Million in 2000.

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2003

Applied Watch

In 2003, I started my second start-up, a cybersecurity software company (Applied Watch). I grew the company to over 100 installations of our network IDS and SIEM and sold it to a public company in 2007 for $4.7 Million in an all-cash deal.

It was at this time in 2008 that I decided to leave the Chicago area and move to San Francisco and started my third start-up, Brier & Thorn. BT began as a defense contractor, supporting counterinsurgency (COIN) operations in Afghanistan and Iraq when I was recruited by the U.S. Intelligence Community, which today is still a part of Knight Group.
2020

Tinsel Town

In 2020, we were approached by a cybersecurity vendor who wanted us to produce a short film, weaving their product into the story arc of the film. Following the success of this film, Mel (my wife) and I decided to pursue filmmaking full time, learning cinematography, lighting, and sound from online courses and YouTube. Now, 4 years later, we've produced 5 television series and own our own TV network at Knight Studios and have won awards at Cannes film festivals and the 44th annual Telly Awards. 

That same year, my first book was published by Wiley on Hacking Connected Cars.
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2023

The Mob

In 2023, The Mob Museum memorialized my two-decade career in cybersecurity by curating the laptop and gear I used as a hacker into their new cybercrime exhibit. The laptop they curated into the exhibit was the computer I used to hack law enforcement vehicles that demonstrated my ability to take complete control of any LE vehicle on the road.
2024

Present Day

Today, Knight Group owns and operates 6 companies in its portfolio, Brier & Thorn, a Managed Security Services Provider; Knight Studios, our TV and movie production company; Knight Events, which hosts annual conferences; Knight Publishing, a book publishing company; and Knight Coffee Co., a coffee roastery and reserve company of specialty single origin coffees.

In January of 2024, Knight Studios began pre-production on a new HBO series titled Shadow Unit starring Louis Mandylor.
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