Today we’d like to introduce you to Nolan Pugh.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
When I was starting the seventh grade, my older brother convinced me to join the drama class as a good way to meet girls. I can’t say it worked out all that well, but I’m still doing it, so I guess something clicked. I kept the train going from there through high school. Went to college and majored in musical theatre, realized I’d rather work in film and television, then went on to try, fail, learn, try again, fail better, learn more, repeat. It didn’t take long before I realized I didn’t just want to perform, I wanted to make art that only I could make. I started writing, performing stand-up comedy, making sketches and short films… Now nearly twenty years have gone by since middle school and I’m trying to get a second feature film made.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Oh, God no. Like most people working in entertainment, I’ve had more lean years than not. I joined the union in 2017 right before a commercial strike. Later I filed an LLC for a production company in February 2020 before the world ended temporarily. And now I’m trying to navigate one of the slowest production periods in industry history. But I’m still moving forward and trying to make awesome stuff happen.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
In no particular order, I have a multi-focus career as an actor, screenwriter, filmmaker, and comedian. However, it’s been far too long since I got on stage and I need to fix that soon.
As a screenwriter and filmmaker, I’ve been able to scratch that itch for making art that only I could make. Especially because my film projects are primarily semi-scripted. My creative partner and I have gotten so into making semi-scripted mockumentaries over the last few years because we get to work with incredibly skilled actors/improvisers and have some of the most fun you could ever have on a set.
As for what I’m most proud of, I think it’s the first feature that we made, which was also one of those semi-scripted mockumentaries. During lockdown, my frequent collaborators were all getting cabin fever and we decided to come up with a movie that we could film while social distancing. It took about a year, but “Garhtwaite: A Film by Ben Kurns” was shot one actor at a time, interview style in an empty living room, and directed over Zoom. It was crazy, awesome, stressful, and so much fun all at the same time. Between the technical limitations, budget constraints, and improvised characters, nothing about how we made that movie should have worked. The fact that it did work is pretty much proof for me that magic exists.
I think what sets me apart from other creatives is that I can find fun and humor in any situation. A lot of my writing deals with serious subject matter; I might be something of a sadist, considering how much I enjoy putting fictional characters through the worst possible times in their lives. But those are the moments when it’s most important to hold on to the things that make us laugh. My most recent short, “Flipping The Switch”, follows someone spiraling into insanity, and it makes me laugh more than anything else I’ve made.
What were you like growing up?
For starters, I was the kind of kid to join the drama class in 7th grade to meet girls. Haha. I was an indoor kid for starters. Books, cartoons, and video games were my day-to-day entertainment. I was (and still am) a huge nerd obsessed with comic books, science fiction, and fantasy. And I didn’t have a lot of friends until high school because I was always sucked into some fictional world instead of meeting people in the real one.
Also, like a lot of artists, I had tons of frantic energy that got me in a fair amount of trouble before I started channeling it into the beginnings of my art career. That was also wrapped up in a ton of social awkwardness that I’m sure I’ll get over any day now.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8496838/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/possiblynolanpugh/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tmkpictures3750
- Other: https://vimeo.com/user211496720
Image Credits
Karsen De Jarnett
Mike Bocaranda
