Jeff Nichols (born December 7, 1978) is an American film director and screenwriter from

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

. He studied filmmaking at the

University of North Carolina School of the Arts The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is an arts school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants high school, undergraduate, and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina School of the Arts by then-Governo ...

. Nichols is most known for his films ''

Take Shelter ''Take Shelter'' is a 2011 American psychological thriller film, written and directed by Jeff Nichols and starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. The plot follows a young husband and father (Shannon) who is plagued by a series of apoca ...

'' (2011), ''

Mud A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

'' (2012), and '' Loving'' (2016), which have been critically acclaimed.

Career

Nichols studied filmmaking at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He wrote his first screenplay, ''

Shotgun Stories ''Shotgun Stories'' is a 2007 drama film about a feud between two sets of half-brothers following the death of their father in rural Arkansas. The film was written and directed by Jeff Nichols, and stars Michael Shannon, Barlow Jacobs, Michael Abb ...

'', with actor

Michael Shannon Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor, producer, musician, and theater director. He is an off beat actor known for his on-screen versatility, performing in both comedies and dramas. He became known for his frequent ...

in mind to play the lead, and contacted the actor through a former teacher. The film was shot on a budget of only $250,000, and released in 2007. Later, Nichols moved into larger independent productions with 2011's ''

'', also starring Shannon, and 2012's ''

'', starring

Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first succes ...

, which competed for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. In 2012, Nichols acted as President of the Jury of the 7th

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. Sections The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: Cinema d'O ...

. His 2016 sci-fi drama film '' Midnight Special'' competed for the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The winn ...

at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. The same year, he directed the drama '' Loving'', a film about the landmark U.S. civil rights court case '' Loving v. Virginia'', which was nominated for numerous awards, including a Golden Globe nomination for lead actor

Joel Edgerton Joel Edgerton (born 23 June 1974) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his appearance in the ''Star Wars'' films ''Attack of the Clones'' (2002) and ''Revenge of the Sith'' (2005) as a young Owen Lars, a role he reprised i ...

and

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 ...

and Golden Globe nominations for lead actress

Ruth Negga Ruth Negga ( ; born 7 January 1981) is an Ethiopian-Irish actress known for the AMC television series ''Preacher'' and the film ''Loving''. For her portrayal of Mildred Loving in the latter, Negga received several major nominations from the Ac ...

. So far, all films directed by Nichols have featured Michael Shannon either in a leading (''Shotgun Stories'', ''Take Shelter'', ''Midnight Special'') or supporting capacity (''Mud'', ''Loving''). In 2018 he directed the short film, “''Long Way Back Home''", inspired by a song of the same name that was written by his brother Ben and released by the country punk band, Lucero. It stars Michael Shannon, who searches the streets and backroads of Memphis for his two younger brothers, played by Garrett Hedlund and Scoot McNairy. Nichols is currently writing and directing ''Yankee Comandante'', adapted from

David Grann David Elliot Grann (born March 10, 1967) is an American journalist, a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, and a best-selling author. His first book, '' The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon,'' was published by D ...

's New Yorker article about

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

and

William Alexander Morgan William Alexander Morgan (April 19, 1928 – March 11, 1961) was a United States citizen who fought in the Cuban Revolution, leading a band of rebels that drove the Cuban army from key positions in the central mountains as part of Second Nationa ...

Adam Driver Adam Douglas Driver (born November 19, 1983) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award; making him one of few performers nominated ...

will star in the film. Production is scheduled to start in 2021. In November 2020, it was announced he would be directing and writing the screenplay for '' A Quiet Place: Day One'', which is set to release in 2023. In May 2021, it was announced he finished the script for the film. However, he departed the project in October 2021, to focus on a new science fiction project also in development at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. In August 2022, it was announced that Nichols would be directing ''The Bikeriders'', a film inspired by the

Danny Lyon Danny Lyon (born March 16, 1942) is an American photographer and filmmaker. All of Lyon's publications work in the style of photographic New Journalism, meaning that the photographer has become immersed in with, and is a participant of, the doc ...

book of the same name. It is to be produced by Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, through Tri-State, their company shared with Nichols. Fred Berger will be executive producer. The ensemble cast will feature Tom Hardy,

Austin Butler Austin Robert Butler (born August 17, 1991) is an American actor. He began his career on television, first in roles on the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon and later on teen dramas, including recurring parts on The CW's ''Life Unexpected'' (2010� ...

Jodie Comer Jodie Marie Comer ( ; born 11 March 1993) is an English actress who rose to global prominence for her role as Oksana Astankova / Villanelle in the BBC America spy thriller '' Killing Eve'' (2018–2022). She has received various accolades in ...

Boyd Holbrook Robert Boyd Holbrook (born September 1, 1981) is an American actor. He has starred in the Netflix series ''Narcos'' (2015-2017) as DEA agent Steve Murphy and '' The Sandman'' (2022-) as the Corinthian, as well as in the History miniseries '' Ha ...

Damon Herriman Damon Herriman is an Australian actor. He is known for his film and television work in Australia and the United States. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Dewey Crowe in '' Justified''. In 2019, he portrayed the cult leader and crimina ...

Toby Wallace Toby Wallace (born 6 June 1995) is a British-born Australian actor, known for his role in '' Babyteeth'' (2019), for which he won the Marcello Mastroianni Award at the 2019 Venice Film Festival and the AACTA for Best Actor in a Leading Role i ...

Emory Cohen Emory Isaac Cohen (born March 13, 1990) is an American actor. He made his feature film debut in '' Afterschool'' (2008). He is best known for his roles as AJ Cross in Derek Cianfrance's film ''The Place Beyond the Pines'' (2012), Tony Fiorello ...

Beau Knapp Beau Christian Knapp (born April 17, 1989) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' The Signal'' (2014), '' Run All Night'' (2015), and '' Southpaw'' (2015). Knapp portrayed a lead villain in ''Death Wish'' (2018), the sixth installm ...

Karl Glusman Karl Glusman (born January 3, 1988) is an American actor. He had a lead role in Gaspar Noé’s controversial pornographical drama ''Love'' (2015) and appeared in '' The Neon Demon'' (2016) and '' Nocturnal Animals'' (2016). Early life Glusman ...

and

Happy Anderson Happy Anderson (born November 19, 1976) is an American actor who has worked in film, television, on and off Broadway. He is best known for his roles as Mr. James "Jimmy" Fester on Cinemax's ''The Knick'' and Jerry Brudos on the Netflix series '' ...

Personal life

Nichols was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and attended Little Rock Central High School. He is the brother of Lucero guitarist and singer Ben Nichols. He is influenced by

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

Directing credits

Film

Feature films Short films Producer * '' In the Radiant City'' (2016) Executive producer * '' Hellion'' (2014)

Podcast

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, Jeff 1978 births Living people American people of English descent American film producers American male screenwriters Film directors from Arkansas University of North Carolina School of the Arts alumni Writers from Little Rock, Arkansas Screenwriters from Arkansas