Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicolas Faure.
Nicolas, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
My story starts from a young age when I was five with my brother and I always had this obsession for watching movies. My parents were always art enthusiast so that definitely aided into finding the art that I love which are films. From classics like Casablanca to James Cameron’s The Terminator, we had all of the blockbusters and Hollywood films on VHS tapes and laser disks. As I grew closer to graduating from high school back in Dubai, United Arab Emirates I had never considered making films as a career, it was more of my hobby since I didn’t know back then the whole process of making one.
After graduating high school, I was pressured to figure out what I wanted to study, with uncertainty I chose to study Business Management at Heriot-Watt University since it would have been a useful attribute. With two years left to graduate to business school, I told my father: “I don’t want to sit behind a desk, wearing a suit and doing the same thing every day.” I left business school and all it took was a small push from my brother that told me “Go do what you really want to do” so I did and I applied to the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles.
After arriving in America, I loved it; the people were so much more friendly than I was used to and people actually greeted me on the streets, it was a whole new exciting world; ready to unfold. I became a sponge in film school since my film background was very minor compared to my other peers, I tried to absorb all the knowledge I could. Three years later, I graduated from the Filmmaking program with a Bachelor in Fine Arts and came out of that graduation hall slightly overwhelmed but ready to tackle to real world.
I have been in the United States since May of 2015 and during my studies, I had the opportunity to mold my craft and to uncover which positions I loved and which I didn’t. My passion for writing and directing grew stronger throughout the years as I would write stories based on true events. These stories have either happened to me or my loved ones and writing something real helps a lot with evoking emotions. I would direct material that hasn’t been written by me but being picky, I would want to have some kind of capability to adjust the script.
Therefore that leads to my most practiced onset position, Gripping. Since graduating film school, I have been working mostly as a Best Boy Grip or Electrician as well as Key Grip. It includes quite a bit of physical work but I have grown fond of working with Gaffers to cut, soften, diffuse light. It also enables me to observe how others work on downtime and pick up some little tricks that help make things go faster. It is also a great department to make connections and since I’m at the beginning of my career, I still have plenty to learn from people that I have worked with.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
Making movies is one of the most stressful yet satisfying feeling that I have ever experienced. The reason I direct the work that I write is that I love having the artistic/creative control but over the years I have learned to collaborate more and get others opinions because it is more satisfying to me, to please a larger scale of audience. My inspiration is to tell real stories that are yet to be told through an artistic standpoint. If the audience watching one of my films feel something as the credits roll up, then I have done my job successfully. From the stories I tell, I want people to relate in someway and at best, see a point of view that they’ve never even thought of. I have heard countless of times “Every story has already been told.” But I believe it’s the way you tell it and make it your own that differentiates it from others.
Artists rarely, if ever pursue art for the money. Nonetheless, we all have bills and responsibilities and many aspiring artists are discouraged from pursuing art due to financial reasons. Any advice or thoughts you’d like to share with prospective artists?
My advice to other artists is to be open with the opportunities that come your way. If it’s not a job you hate doing or have never tried, then there is no good reason not to go for it. One of the reasons I work a lot on film productions as a Grip is that it’s a job in high demand and the more, the merrier, usually. Moreover, it helps with paying the bills; even though I don’t want to Grip until the end of my career. I try to be ready with my written material so that if an opportunity comes along and my film can be made, I’ll be ready to start the pre-production and ultimately direct it.
Find a role that your good at, it may not be your dream job but everyone has to start somewhere. Once you start spreading the word and people know your capabilities and what you’re good at, opportunities will arise. It’s all about being at the right place at the right time, opportunity arises within the blink of an eye and you have to be ready to prove yourself and make it yours. So ultimately, keep your driving force running but if things don’t go as planned try to find another role that is in high demand and can complement your goal.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
At this stage, my directorial debut film is going through its festival run in Europe. After that is done, I am planning to do a festival run in the United States, which at that point will be available to watch on websites like: YouTube and Vimeo. Meeting new people and expanding my connections is one way of support because that is what the industry is based on, knowing the right people. But when my films are in the pre-production stage, I usually do a crowdfunding page to reach a budget goal in order to make the film a reality.
Contact Info:
- Address: 633 N Central Ave, Glendale, CA, 91203
- Phone: (818) 813-2149
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @nickfaure
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=62884125&ref=content_filter
Image Credit:
Tanya Gawdi and Polina Krasovicka
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