Jan Nickman (born October 17, 1950) is an American film and television director, producer, cinematographer and writer. As the co-founder of Miramar Images, Inc. and Sacred Earth Pictures, Nickman's career in film and television spans three decades.

Career

Nickman's career in film and television began as a studio camera person and editor with the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in Sydney, Australia. Upon returning to the United States. and graduating with a degree in communications from

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

, Nickman then produced and created stage and lighting designs for leading-edge, live multi-media concerts combining rock bands with symphony orchestras along with his filmed images projected onto large screens above the performers. Most notably, "Leviticus" and "Trinity" performed by the

Seattle Symphony The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera. History Beginnings The orchestr ...

e orchestra. After directing and producing live productions, Nickman returned to television as a news photographer with

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

affiliate KING T.V. in Seattle, Washington He also produced and reported news stories, particularly regarding environmental issues. Nickman eventually became a senior producer and director in the production department and produced and directed the Emmy Award-winning television program ''REV'', an innovative rock and roll series featuring live music performances, music reviews and comedy sketches."REV It Up", ''Seattle Times'' Arts & Entertainment, January 8, 1984. The program was responsible for debuting many musical groups including

Queensrÿche Queensrÿche is an American heavy metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record. The original lineup ...

and is commonly credited for catalyzing the Seattle music scene in the 1990s. Nickman went on to co-found Miramar Images with the release of ''Natural States'' (1985) featuring the music of

David Lanz David Howard Lanz (born June 28, 1950 in Seattle, Washington) is a Grammy-nominated pianist and composer. His album '' Cristofori's Dream'' topped the New Age music charts in 1988. Early years Lanz attributes his interest in the piano to experien ...

and

Paul Speer Paul Speer (born 1952 in Lewiston, Idaho) is a Grammy nominated guitarist, composer, and record producer. He has released several solo albums, music video albums, and collaborations with other artists such as pianist David Lanz, drummer Scot ...

. The film was one of the largest selling, non-theatrical releases of its time and recognized as one of the top 10 videos by ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'' magazine. ''Natural States'' went

double platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

, selling more than 100,000 copies, and launched the success of Miramar Images. Miramar then released two more of Nickman's films, ''Desert Vision'', and '' Canyon Dreams'' and earned

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...

a Grammy nomination for their music score. In 1990, Nickman directed and co-produced ''The Mind's Eye: A Computer Animation Odyssey'', the first of the ''

Mind's Eye A mental image is an experience that, on most occasions, significantly resembles the experience of 'perceiving' some object, event, or scene, but occurs when the relevant object, event, or scene is not actually present to the senses. There are ...

'' series, a collection of

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

computer-generated imagery (CGI). His body of work, which also includes ''Planetary Traveler'' and ''Infinity's Child'' has firmly established him as a computer-generated imagery (CGI) pioneer and a master of long-form films that use music as the primary narrative. Nickman's film, ''The Mind's Eye'', was a double platinum-selling film considered to be a milestone in the field of computer animation and reached number 12 on ''Billboard''′s video hits chart. It was the first full length film ever created entirely with CGI (computer animation). Combining the artistry of numerous computer animators from around the world with a score by James Reynolds, ''The Mind's Eye'' is credited with giving rise to such films as ''

Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the '' Toy Story ...

''. ''Animation Magazine'' reviewer Karl Rathcke wrote the film was "... the type of audio-visual 'head trip' for the 90's that Stanley Kubrick's ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' was for the 60's." In 1995 Nickman's feature film "Third Stone from the Sun" was released. The film received the Gold Special Jury Award (top honors) at the Houston International Film Festival and also screened at the first International Environmental Film Festival in Boulder, Colorado, and the Seattle International Film Festival among others. Donald Liebenson of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' described Nickman's next release, ''Planetary Traveler'', as "boldly oingwhere no computer animation video has gone before."''Chicago Tribune'', October 16, 1997. At a time when computer animation was created solely on dedicated computer graphics work stations, ''Planetary Traveler'' became the first original, full-length program ever created entirely on standard desk-top computers. The seminal work was the result of a two-year collaboration by Nickman with seven artists from five different states via the internet. Former Tangerine Dream member

Paul Haslinger Paul Haslinger (born 11 December 1962) is an Austrian musician and composer. He lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Life and career Early life Haslinger was born and raised in Linz, Austria. He attended high school at Kollegium Alois ...

composed the music score. As a result, Nickman was invited to give the keynote address at the MacWorld Conference in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

, Germany, in November 1997. The sequel to ''Planetary Traveler'' is titled ''Infinity's Child'' and was released in 1999. Two of Nickman's most recent films, ''Echoes of Creation'' and ''Sacred Earth'' began airing on Public Television nationwide in 2015. Both films are true to his signature fusing of motion picture to music and were specifically designed as a way for viewers to connect emotionally with the beauty of our planet, rather than intellectualize it through a discussion about it. Using music as the narrative, ''Echoes of Creation'' is a 40-minute journey through

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

, the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

and as far south as

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, featuring a soundtrack by Grammy nominated composer

David Arkenstone David Arkenstone (born July 1, 1952) is an American composer and performer. His music is primarily instrumental, with occasional vocalizations. Most of Arkenstone's music falls into new age category; however, he also worked in other genres, inclu ...

and spoken word by Karen Hutton. Its prequel ''Sacred Earth'' also follows Nickman's unique fusion of picture to music throughout the American Southwest, featuring music by Grammy-nominated composer David Lanz and spoken word by

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winning actor

Linda Hunt Lydia Susanna "Linda" Hunt (born April 2, 1945) is an American actress of stage and screen. She made her film debut playing Mrs. Oxheart in ''Popeye'' (1980). Hunt portrayed the male character Billy Kwan in '' The Year of Living Dangerously'' ...

and in the finale features a dance performance by Caroline Richardson, former First Soloist with the National Ballet of Canada.

Awards

* NATAS Emmy Award, ''A Day In The Life of The Cascades'', 1980 * NATAS Emmy Award, ''REV'' Television Series, 1984 * The Emerald City Awards, Emerald Award of Merit, 1986, ''Natural States'', Miramar * International Film and TV Festival of New York, Silver Medal Winner, 1987, ''Desert Vision'', Miramar * Video Choice Magazine, Top Choice Award, 1988, ''Natural States'', Miramar * Chicago International Film Festival, Silver Plaque, 1989, ''Gift of The Whales'', Miramar * International Film Festival of New York, Finalist Certificate, 1989, ''Gift of The Whales'', Miramar * Parents' Choice Awards, Parents' Choice Honor, 1989, ''Gift of The Whales'', Miramar * Cindy Awards, Special Achievement Award, 1990, ''The Mind's Eye'' * National Educational Film & Video Awards, Gold Apple Award, 1990, ''Gift of The Whales'', Miramar * American Film & Video Festival, Red Ribbon Award Winner, 1990, ''Gift of The Whales'' * American Film & Video Festival, Blue Ribbon Award (Top Honor), 1991, ''The Mind's Eye'', Miramar * Telly Awards, Bronze Telly Award, 1991, ''Gift of The Whales'', Miramar * Telly Awards, Silver Telly Award (Top Honor), 1991, ''The Mind's Eye'', Miramar

Filmography

* 1985 ''Natural States'' (music by

and

) * 1986 ''Desert Visions'' (music by Lanz and Speer) * 1987 ''Canyon Dreams'' (music by

) * 1990 ''Gift of the Whales'' (music by Lanz and Speer) * 1990 ''The Mind's Eye'' (music by James Reynolds) * 1992 ''True North'' (music by

Jonn Serrie Jonn Serrie is an American composer of space music, a genre of ambient electronic music, and New Age music. He has recorded at least 18 albums and worked on projects for Lucasfilm, IMAX Corporation, NASA, the United States Navy, Hayden Planetar ...

, James Reynolds, and

) * 1992 ''Water Colors'' (music by

Peter Bardens Peter Bardens (19 June 1945 – 22 January 2002) was an English keyboardist and a founding member of the British progressive rock group Camel. He played keyboards, sang, and wrote songs with Andrew Latimer. During his career, Bardens worked al ...

) * 1995 ''Third Stone from the Sun'' (music by Steven Ray Allen,

, James Reynolds.

, and

) * 1996 ''Elroy's Toy'' * 1997 ''Power Moves'' (music by James Reynolds) * 1997 ''Planetary Traveler'' (music by

) * 1999 ''Infinity's Child'' (music by

) * 2008 ''Living Temples'' (music by

) * 2014 ''Sacred Earth'' (music by

and Gary Stroutsos) * 2015 ''Echoes of Creation'' (music by

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickman, Jan 1950 births Living people American directors American cinematographers

Career

Awards

Filmography

See also

References