BIOGRAPHY
Nathaniel Atcheson grew up in Reno, Nevada, in a family of successful doctors, lawyers, and professionals. Because of his surroundings, he never considered filmmaking to be a “sensible” career and so he focused on math and science in school. It wasn’t until his undergraduate studies when he realized that a creative career in the film industry was his true calling. He immediately switched his major from computer science to English (for his school had no film program) and began studying writing and literature.
After graduation, he spent four years working in Las Vegas as production manager at a video production company, where he was in charge of editing, duplications, web design, and DVD authoring. This position gave him an essential technical background for the filmmaking process, and he was able to use the company equipment to produce several short movies. “Investigaytion,” a mannered comedy about conservative parents hiring a private investigator to follow their gay son got into several U.S. festivals, including the well-respected North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.
In 2005, he was accepted to Chapman University’s prestigious and competitive Dodge College of Film and Media Arts as an M.F.A. candidate in Film Production with an emphasis in directing. At Chapman, he directed several short films on 16mm and 35mm film, all of which have played at several film festivals across the country and abroad. His thesis film, "The Isolationist," is a dark existential comedy about a man unable to escape the trappings of his mundane life. "The Isolationist" stars pop idol Tiffany in a leading role.
In the fall of 2007, Nathaniel won a school-wide competition in which his short screenplay “Sombrero” was one of six scripts selected for production from a pool of hundreds of submissions. Nathaniel was one of only two directors chosen to direct his own screenplay for this competition. “Sombrero” made its premiere 2008 Palm Springs International Short Fest, which is considered the best short film festival in North America, and was awarded Best of the Fest as an audience favorite in comedy. "Sombrero" has been accepted to twelve film festivals so far. Nathaniel was also selected for the prestigious Pankey Scholarship, in which he attended weekly one-on-one meetings with legendary producer David Foster (McCabe and Mrs. Miller, The Thing).
Nathaniel is an accomplished, classically-trained pianist. He took formal lessons for 16 years and has since been honing his skills writing and recording his own compositions. He has recorded two instrumental albums and in 2007 composed the score for “The Isolationist.” His interest in sound extends beyond music, as Nathaniel is also an experienced sound designer. In addition to having sound designed several of his own films, including “The Isolationist,” “Clean Break,” and “Slapjack,” he also sound designed the graduate thesis films “Bean” (dir. Giovanna Federico), “Suppressant” (dir. Derek Woods), and “The Red Line” (dir. Joshua Shain). He was nominated for a Chapman University 2008 Cecil Award for his sound design on “Bean.”
Nathaniel graduated from Chapman in May of 2008 and lives in West Hollywood with his significant other of nine years. In addition to freelancing as a 1st assistant director, Nathaniel is in post-production for his first feature film, Herpes Boy, a family comedy about a young man with a facial birthmark who tries to find acceptance on the Internet by making videos about his zany family. Staring Beth Grant, Ahna O'Reilly, Octavia Spencer, and Michael Chieffo, principal photography for Herpes Boy wrapped in August 2008. Post-production will be completed by April, 2009.
Contact: nathaniel.atcheson [at] gmail.com
RESUME
DIRECTOR / WRITER / PRODUCER
Herpes Boy [2010, Red One,
85 min.)
[director, editor]
Sombrero [2008, 35mm, 12 min.]
(director, writer)
Winner - Best Short Film (Q Fest 2009), Best of the Fest (Palm Springs
2008)
The Isolationist [2008, 35mm
17 min.] (director, writer)
Winner - Best Student Film (SoCal IFF 2008)
Slapjack [2008, 35mm, 3 min.] (director, writer, editor)
A Starchy World
[2007, Super 16mm, 13 min.] (director, producer)
Tenure
[2007, Super 16mm, 14 min.] (director,
writer)
Clean Break
[2007, 16mm, 5 min.] (director,
writer, producer, editor)
Animate Objects [2004, Mini DV, 7 min.] (director,
writer,
editor)
Investigaytion [2004, Mini DV, 7 min.] (director,
writer,
editor)
Assigning Guilt [2003, Mini DV, 5 min.] (director, editor)
MUSIC /
AUDIO
The Isolationist [2008] (original score,
sound designer)
Slapjack [2008] (original score, sound designer)
Bean [2008] (sound designer); dir. Giovanna Federico
Suppressant [2008] (sound designer); dir. Derek Woods
The Red Line [2008] (sound designer); dir. Joshua
Shain
Reunion [2007] (sound designer); dir. Natalia
Fernandez
Barnacles [2006, audio CD, 53 min.] (musician/writer/producer)
Conspiracy Theories [2005, audio CD, 54 min.] (musician/writer/producer)
Animate Objects [2004] (original score)
Assigning Guilt [2003] (original score)
FEATURE SCREENPLAYS
Ground Control [2007] (action/drama/suspense)
The Scarlet Altar [2004] (horror/mystery)
Pink Chimneys [2001] (gay comedy/drama)
In the Service of Mr. Keating [2000] (drama)
FORMAL EDUCATION
M.F.A. in Film Production,
Chapman University, Orange, Calif. (2005 - 2008)
B.A. in English Writing,
University of Nevada, Reno (1996 - 2000)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
1st Assistant Director, "The Guild," Season 2, Ep. 5 - 12 [Nov./Dec. 2009,
Knights of Good Productions]
1st Assistant Director, Shut Up and Die Like an Aviator (Jun. 2008, Sideshow Media Group)
1st Assistant Director, Delivery Man (Jun. 2008, Sideshow Media Group)
1st Assistant Director, Hair Cut (Jun. 2008, Sideshow Media Group)
1st Assistant Director, Outsourced Webisode Pilot (Apr. 2008)
Sound Mixer, The Red Line (Feb. 2008, dir. Joshua Shain)
1st Assistant Director, Last Pictures (Dec. 2007, dir. Natalia Fernandez)
1st Assistant Director, The Different World (Oct. 2007, dir. Christian Guzek)
1st Assistant Director, The Lost Boy (Mar. 2007, dir. Tom Flynn)
1st Assistant Director, Reunion (Feb. 2007, dir. Natalia Fernandez)
1st Assistant Director, Avian (Oct. 2006, dir. Giovanna Federico)
2001 – 2005:
Production Manager at Patchin Pictures, Las Vegas, Nevada. Oversaw all
forms of consumer-level production, including videography, editing, tape and
DVD duplication, film-to-video transfers, and customer service.
OTHER SKILLS
Piano
(classically trained), guitar, audio recording, sound design (Pro Tools,
Cakewalk Home Studio), editing (Avid Media Composer, Final Cut Pro), graphic design
(Photoshop), title design (After
Effects), web design (Front Page), photography, writing.
On the set of "Herpes Boy."
Film Psychosis © 2009 Nathaniel Atcheson (nathaniel.atcheson [at] gmail.com)