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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 instead 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. 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, played at several prominent festivals in 2004. 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, emphasis directing. At Chapman, he directed six short films, all of which have played at many film festivals across the world. 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 and won Best Student Film at the SoCal Independent Film Festival in 2008. 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 then selected to direct the film, which the school funded. “Sombrero” made its premiere 2008 Palm Springs International Short Fest, the top short film festival in North America, and was awarded Best of the Fest as an audience favorite in comedy. It continues to play at film festivals across the U.S. and Europe. It will make its television debut on the LOGO network in April, 2010. 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 a skilled 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.” He graduated from Chapman in May, 2008. Most recently, Nathaniel directed and edited his first feature film, HERPES BOY. The film made its world premiere at the Austin Film Festival in October 2009 and was awarded the Comedy Vanguard Audience Award. The producers are in final talks with an A-list sales agent and are hopeful that a distribution deal is on the horizon. Nathaniel is currently writing new feature screenplays and is looking for his next directing project. He lives in West Hollywood with his significant other of ten years. |
DIRECTOR / WRITER
AUDIO / POST-PRODUCTION
1st ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
FORMAL EDUCATION
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All Material © 2009 Nathaniel Atcheson (nathaniel.atcheson [at] gmail.com)
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