Jeffrey Ryan Nichols (born December 7, 1978) is an American filmmaker, director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterized by their Southern United States backdrop and Americana ambience, slice-of-life depictions of rural and working class characters and the study of their struggles, American masculinity, and the cultural clash between traditionalism and modernism. He is also known for his longstanding collaboration with actor Michael Shannon, who has appeared in all of his feature films to date.
After studying filmmaking at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Nichols moved into the independent filmmaking scene with Shotgun Stories (2007). He went on to direct the critically acclaimed films Take Shelter (2011), Mud (2012), Midnight Special (2016), Loving (2016), and The Bikeriders (2023).
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Early life and education
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. Interested in film, but having no prior skills in filmmaking, Nichols studied filmmaking at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he met and befriended fellow Arkansas native David Gordon Green, who later collaborated with Nichols on works together. He had also interacted with directors Jody Hill and Craig Zobel, actor Danny McBride, and cinematographers Tim Orr and Adam Stone, the latter of which has served as director of photography on several of Nichols' films, as students during his time at UNCSA.
Career
After graduating from UNCSA in 2001, Nichols had written his first screenplay, Shotgun Stories, with actor Michael Shannon in mind to play the lead, and contacted the actor through former UNCSA film professor and independent filmmaker Gary Hawkins, who knew Shannon through the Sundance Institute. The film was shot on a budget of $250,000, and released in 2007.
Nichols moved into independent productions with 2011's Take Shelter, also starring Shannon, and 2012's Mud, starring Matthew McConaughey, which competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. In 2012, Nichols acted as president of the jury of the 7th Rome Film Festival.
His 2016 sci-fi drama film Midnight Special competed for the Golden Bear 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 and Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for lead actress Ruth Negga.
In 2016, Nichols was hired to direct a remake of Alien Nation, but the project never came to fruition. "That’s one of the reasons it’s taken me so long to make another film," Nichols said in a 2023 interview. "I spent like four years on that. And we were at the 1-yard line. I had a cast, we were ready to go, but the universe didn’t want me to make that right then." Later, it was revealed that the script Nichols wrote for Alien Nation would be retooled into an original film and produced by Paramount Pictures.
In 2018, he directed the short film Long Way Back Home, which was 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.
In 2020, it was reported that Nichols would be writing and directing Yankee Comandante, adapted from David Grann's article in The New Yorker about Che Guevara and William Alexander Morgan. Adam Driver was announced as starring in the film. However, the project ultimately collapsed due to the coronavirus pandemic with Nichols stating: "It’s hard to take a movie out in March of 2020. That was a rough year! I love it so much and David Grann’s article that inspired it is so good. I’m loath to ever say movies are important, but it feels like something that’s important... It’s an important film not only about our relationship with Cuba but also our relationship with the Southern Hemisphere and whether we’re able to export our ideology. I love what the film talks about and I love that it’s a true story that’s a little bit gonzo."
Filmmaking style and technique
Several recurring filmmaking techniques are identifiable in Nichols's films. He has established a filmmaking history which involves repeat collaborations such as with actor Michael Shannon and cinematographer Adam Stone, who both have worked with Nichols on all of his projects from Shotgun Stories to The Bikeriders. Six of Nichols' films have featured Shannon: Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter, Mud, Midnight Special, Loving and The Bikeriders. Speaking of his frequent collaboration with Shannon, Nichols stated: "(Shannon) is not just a collaborator; he has become family to me. I owe my career to Michael Shannon. I learned how to direct from directing Michael Shannon. So, from the outside, it can feel kind of cute, but it’s not. I love that guy, and I want him in movies because he’s the greatest actor in the world. And if you’re a director and you have access to the greatest actor in the world, it makes sense that you would call him all the time." Additionally, the Tennessee-based alternative country band Lucero, whom Nichols' older brother Ben founded, has contributed songs to the several soundtracks of Nichols' work.
Nichols' filmmaking style is rooted in the arts, lifestyle, and culture of the Southern United States, often challenging stereotypical portrayals of Southerners in cinema, taking influence and inspiration from Southern literature by the likes of Mark Twain and Southern Gothic writers Cormac McCarthy and Larry Brown, films such as Sling Blade by Billy Bob Thornton, Frailty by Bill Paxton, Badlands by Terrence Malick, and Lone Star by John Sayles, and Nichols' own upbringing in Arkansas.
Nichols cites filmmakers John Ford, Terrence Malick, John Sayles, Steven Spielberg, Jim Jarmusch, John Carpenter, and David Gordon Green as his inspirations.
Personal life
Nichols resides in Austin, Texas, and serves as the chairman of the Arkansas Cinema Society. In 2017, he co-founded the Filmland Film Festival in his capacity at the Arkansas Cinema Society to support the film industry in Arkansas.
Filmography
Film
Additional literary material only
A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
Producer
Hellion (2014) - executive producer
In the Radiant City (2016)
Eric Larue (2023) - executive producer
