Bio

 

FILM

 

Nick wrote and directed his first short film “Delphine” in 2003 under the Irish Film Board’s Short Shorts scheme. Described by the Evening Herald as “one of the best Irish movies of the past decade”, “Delphine” was accepted for a host of Irish and international festivals, and has been broadcast on TV in 13 countries including France, Spain, Canada, and Japan.

 

In April 2006 he wrote and directed his second short “Why The Irish Dance That Way” for the RTE/Arts Council “Dance On The Box” series. In June 2007 it was one of nine short films selected by New York’s Museum of Modern Art for Shortfest: Outstanding Shorts from The International Festivals, and in March 2008 it won First Prize at the Chicago Irish Film Festival.

 

In 2009, his script “Shoe” won First Prize in the Short Screenplay Competition at the Vail Film Festival (Colorado), and Second Prize in the Champion Screenwriting Competition (Los Angeles).

 

In February 2010 Nick completed his first feature-length screenplay, “Incognita”, supported by a writer loan from the Irish Film Board.

 

Nick was awarded funding to direct “Shoe” under the Irish Film Board's Signatures programme, and shot the film in Killorglin (Co. Kerry) and Dublin in July 2010.

 

Following a brief theatrical run in Los Angeles, “Shoe” received its Irish premiere at the Cork Film Festival in November 2010. Later the same month it was announced that “Shoe” was one of 10 movies on the shortlist in the Live Action Short category for the 2011 Academy Awards.

 

In May 2011, “Shoe” won the Best Irish Short award at the Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival.

 

In 2011, Nick wrote and directed a much-admired fund-raising film for the Irish Film Archive featuring Saoirse Ronan.

 

In January 2014, Nick’s low-budget feature-length musical drama “Dublin 24” was one of five projects chosen for the Cornerstone initiative run by The Factory in conjunction with the Irish Film Board.

 

In October 2014, the Irish Film Board announced that “The Drummer And The Keeper”, written and to be directed by Nick, was one of the three successful feature film projects to be funded for production under their Catalyst scheme.

 

“The Drummer And The Keeper” was filmed in Dublin in February / March 2016, and is due for release in 2017.

 

Most recently Nick and producer Kate McColgan have been awarded funding by the Irish Film Board to develop his feature project “Incognita”.

 

 

GENERAL

 

Nick first came to prominence as the lead singer and songwriter with The Fat Lady Sings, with whom he released two much-praised albums on East West / Atlantic Records and toured the world in the early 1990s. He has subsequently released four award-winning solo albums, both under his own name and more recently using the alter ego Alien Envoy, gaining a reputation as one of Ireland’s innovative independent musical artists.

 

He has also worked as one of Ireland’s most highly-regarded advertising creatives, writing award-winning campaigns for clients as diverse as AIB, the Green Party, Walkers Crisps and most notably Guinness for whom he created five major TV spots, including the Clio-winning “Tom Crean”, and “Quarrel” starring Michael Fassbender.

 

Nick was born in Dublin. Having qualified as a solicitor and given up his legal career the same day, Nick’s working life has largely been devoted to creative and artistic endeavours, but he has also been employed at various times as a computer games journalist, a tennis coach, a college lecturer, and an extra on “The Bill”.

 

Having spent a decade living in London, New York and a variety of squalid sleeper buses, Nick now resides in his native Dublin once more with his wife and two sons.

Awards

 

Why The Irish Dance That Way

 

Selected by New York’s Museum of Modern Art for Shortfest: Outstanding Shorts from The International Festivals.

 

First Prize at the Chicago Irish Film Festival, 2008.

 

Shoe

 

First Prize in the Short Screenplay Competition at the Vail Film Festival (Colorado).

 

Second Prize in the Champion Screenwriting Competition (Los Angeles).

 

Shortlisted in the Live Action Short category for the 2011 Academy Awards.

 

Best Irish Short award at the Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival

Filmography

THE DRUMMER AND THE KEEPER 

2017

 

DUBLIN 24

2014

 

SHOE

2010 – Short

 

WHY THE IRISH DANCE THAT WAY

2006 – Short

 

DELPHINE

2003 – Short