Nickolas Perry (born December 3, 1967) is an American film director, writer, editor, photographer, and film instructor who began his career working as a

camera assistant A focus puller or first assistant camera (1st AC) is a member of a film crew's camera department whose primary responsibility is to maintain the camera lens's optical focus on whatever subject or action is being filmed. "Pulling focus" refers to ...

and

assistant director The role of an assistant director on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have t ...

on independent films in San Francisco before becoming

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five ...

's editing assistant on '' Bram Stoker's Dracula''. In 1995, Perry wrote and directed ''Must Be the Music'', a short film starring Milo Ventimiglia and

Michael Saucedo Michael Saucedo (born July 11, 1970) is an American actor best known for his role on the soap opera '' General Hospital'' from 1999 until 2001, and he briefly returned in 2013 and 2014. He is also a musician and published author known for the ...

as gay teens on a Friday night out in Los Angeles. The film premiered at the 1996

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

and was later distributed as part of Strand Releasing's ''

Boys Life 2 ''Boys Life 2'' is a compilation of four short films about being gay in America, released in 1997. *''Must Be the Music'' (directed by Nickolas Perry) offers a frank depiction of urban gay youth. *''Nunzio's Second Cousin'' (directed by Tom DeCe ...

''. The film got the attention of director Gus Van Sant, who would executive produce Perry's first feature film, '' Speedway Junky''. Perry wrote and directed '' Speedway Junky'' in 1999. The film premiered at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

and starred

Daryl Hannah Daryl Christine Hannah (born December 3, 1960) is an American actress and environmental activist. She made her screen debut in Brian De Palma's supernatural horror film ''The Fury'' (1978). She has starred in various movies across the years, in ...

Jesse Bradford Jesse Bradford (born May 28, 1979) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor at the age of five and received two Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film nominations for his performances in ''King of th ...

, and

Jonathan Taylor Thomas Jonathan Taylor Thomas (born Jonathan Taylor Weiss; September 8, 1981) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Randy Taylor on ''Home Improvement'' and voicing young Simba in Disney's 1994 film ''The Lion King'' and Pinocc ...

. In 2004, Perry co-wrote, co-directed, and edited The Hunting of the President, an American documentary film based on the New York Times best-selling novel, The Hunting of the President: The Ten Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton, written by investigative journalists Joe Conason and Gene Lyons, and published by

Thomas Dunne Books Thomas Dunne Books was an imprint of St. Martin's Press, which is a division of Macmillan Publishers. From 1986 until April 2020, it published popular trade fiction and nonfiction. History The imprint signed David Irving, a scholar, for a Josep ...

in 2000. Narrated by

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

, the film premiered at the 2004

and was distributed theatrically by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

. With Harry Thomason, Perry was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay for the film. Perry is a member of the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merg ...

and a member of the Non-Fiction Writers Caucus at the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers G ...

. He works as a

script doctor A script doctor is a writer or playwright hired by a film, television, or theatre production company to rewrite an existing script or improve specific aspects of it, including structure, characterization, dialogue, pacing, themes, and other eleme ...

and as a consultant on low-budget features and

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in ter ...

, advising first-time directors on

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

completion, distribution, and marketing.

Select filmography

* ''Metaphysia 2012'' (2010) (editor) * '' The Hunting of the President'' (2004) (co-writer, co-director, editor) * '' Speedway Junky'' (1999) (writer, director) * ''The Creed'' (1998) (director) * ''

'' (1997) (writer, director, segment "Must Be the Music") * ''Must Be the Music'' (1996) (writer, director)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Nickolas 1967 births Living people American film directors American male screenwriters