Check Out Nicholas Markart’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicholas Markart.

Hi Nicholas, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My name is Nick Markart. I’m a 30-year-old filmmaker and marketing director based in Los Angeles, CA. My career began in post-production at Warner Bros. Studios, and I’ve directed multiple human rights documentaries that screened at Cannes International Film Festival, including *Peacekeeper* and *Warriors: The Bernie Mac Disease*. I started making YouTube videos in 2008 when I was 12 years old, and telling stories that resonate with people has remained the main motivation behind everything I do.

During the pandemic, I became more involved in marketing. I started editing ads for brands like Bud Light and Thuma Mattresses, then went on to become a creative director and marketing director, leading large marketing teams and overseeing full-scale marketing operations. I currently serve as the Marketing Director for Coverland, an automotive accessories company where social media and video advertising are primary drivers of sales.

With my background as a filmmaker, I have a unique perspective on the intersection of business and creative storytelling. Unlike most marketing directors, I’m deeply involved in Coverland’s video production and personally write and direct many of our flagship campaigns.

I’m lucky to work with a talented creative team, and throughout my career we’ve attracted some amazing collaborators. As a creative director, I collaborated with YouTuber JerryRigEverything, who has more than 10 million subscribers, to produce a video series about innovative green energy technology.

At Coverland, we created an absurdist ad campaign starring stand-up comic Concrete of Power 106, in which he announced to his fanbase that he would be playing a car-seat-human-hybrid character in an upcoming sitcom as an April Fools’ prank. The campaign included an animatronic puppet, a fake trailer, and a follow-up hero ad revealing that the announcement had been a joke.

Coverland also has a major campaign coming in Q4 2026 with NASCAR Hall of Famer and champion Kurt Busch. I wrote and directed a biographical brand film starring Kurt that pays tribute to the hardships he has overcome and the pursuit of greatness regardless of what life throws at you.

One of our most innovative campaigns this year has been Coverland’s original vertical drama, *Secret CEO*. I created the series in April 2026 to capitalize on the growing popularity of viral vertical dramas built around addictive, bite-sized episodes designed for social media.

The first season, *My Wife’s Lover is the Secret CEO*, stars a fictional version of Coverland’s CEO, humorously named Robert Lovecushion and played by vertical drama leading man Antonio Rosello. Robert goes undercover as a gardener to save Coverland from corrupt executives. The series was viewed more than 1.5 million times following its release.

LA Magazine subsequently profiled our branded series as part of a broader movement toward narrative-driven brand storytelling, alongside larger companies such as Crocs and Dr Pepper that have also begun experimenting with the vertical drama format.

What makes *Secret CEO* different from traditional branded entertainment is that our products aren’t simply inserted into a story as product placement, the story itself revolves around Coverland. The series presents a larger-than-life fictional version of the company, complete with powerful executives, betrayals, corporate rivalries, and characters fighting for control of a car seat cover company.

Thanks to the success of Season 1, we’re releasing a second season, *Secret CEO: Prison of Love*, in Q4 2026. I wrote and directed all 18 episodes, which feature a larger budget, higher stakes, new characters, and even a full-scale prison riot.

Ultimately, my goal is to create marketing that people genuinely choose to watch, using storytelling as a driver of attention, emotion, and business growth while continuing to challenge myself creatively and grow as a filmmaker every day.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It was not a smooth road. After graduating from Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts in 2019, I moved to Los Angeles where I began work at Warner Bros. Given that timing, I was able to get in about a year and a half to two years experience in the TV industry before COVID completely changed the industry. We went from busy, in-person schedules to working from home, and then like many people in my industry, I struggled to find stable work as the pandemic took its course.

Staying flexible is what kept me afloat and led to where I am today. During that time, I produced low budget, independent documentaries, experimented more with social media, and officially dipped my toes into marketing as an editor.

I think a lot of young filmmakers struggle to find professional traction and an outlet for their creative voices in their 20s. I learned a lot during this time, and my advice would be to chase the stories you want to tell, no matter the format.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
What makes me different as an artist is that I’ve never seen a hard line between entertainment, emotion, absurdity, and purpose. My work has ranged from human-rights documentaries and deeply personal stories about illness and mortality to science fiction, comedy, animation, celebrity campaigns, and an 18-episode vertical drama about executives fighting for control of a car seat cover company.

I’ve also always been drawn to genre filmmaking and the communities that form around it. I wrote and produced “Guyver: Genesis”, a fan-funded live-action adaptation of the Japanese manga and anime “Bio-Booster Armor Guyver”, directed by Corey Hour. The project brought together a new generation of filmmakers with performers and practical-effects talent connected to the original live-action “Guyver” films from the 1990s. For me, it was an opportunity to take something that began with genuine fandom and treat it with the same ambition and seriousness I would bring to an original production.

Despite how different these projects may seem, the thing I’m always chasing is the same: finding an idea that makes someone feel something and presenting it in a way they haven’t quite seen before.

My career in marketing has expanded that perspective. I’ve learned to think not only about whether a story is creatively satisfying, but why someone stops to watch it, what keeps them engaged, what they remember afterward, and whether that attention can translate into real-world action. I get to see the relationship between storytelling and audience behavior at a scale most filmmakers rarely have access to.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
You can’t make it without taking risks. If I waited for permission for every project I created then most of them wouldn’t exist.

A great example is our vertical drama series for Coverland. At the time we produced it, there was not much precedence for brands producing their own vertical series, especially with the plot revolving around a fictionalized version of our own company. It was one of those things that could either work, or fall on its face. As a marketing director, the business performance is my top priority, so if the campaign had failed, I would have some major explaining to do to stakeholders.

Fortunately, that project was a successful creative experience, and we are doubling down on the format moving forward. Doubling down, in and of itself is another risk! Let’s just say I like to push the envelope.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/movies.by.nick/