Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Lovely.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Nick. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I initially started wanting to be in the film industry as an actor. While I attended Tufts University, where I studied International Relations, I auditioned for the lead in Slumdog Millionaire many years ago, even got some callbacks but didn’t get the part. I decided to work behind the camera instead, starting with an internship for an LGBT director named Casper Andreas.
However, with the 2008 slump, I ended up moving back to my home town of Hong Kong where I got diagnosed with a bi-polar disorder. It crippled me for years however I managed to walk on my own again. I couldn’t get much work there because I didn’t speak the language and I was very stuck so I spent all my time working on screenplays for years, even getting one option though it wasn’t made. I made a bunch of low budget films to hone my craft, which received some awards, I was the only one from Hong Kong who was represented in Asia’s largest webfest in Korea, Seoul webfest. I also took up volunteer jobs in film production. I eventually was hired to write a documentary called Frontline Fashion which played on Lifetime. I took some classes with Gordy Hoffman who was one of my best mentors ever. Eventually, after three attempts actually, I got into Chapman University for graduate school in screenwriting.
However, I quickly learned I wanted to be a director instead. I sat in on the directing classes illegally and made a bunch of shorts, Something Round, Playback, The Foal, and Flu. All got distribution offers from RevryTV and/or ShortsTV and will be showcased this month. Not to mention, I picked up a bunch of awards for my films which have played all over the world on the festival circuit, as well as my many feature screenplays which continue to place in competitions yearly. After graduate school, I landed a job as the personal assistant to famous Hollywood writer/director Steven de Souza (Die Hard, Running Man, Flintstones, Knight Rider). Throughout my time at Chapman, I also recorded an album and became an award-winning light painter, all inspired by my love for someone who I can’t name as he’s famous. Since then, which was in 2019, work kind of stalled however, I did get represented and I got two directing jobs, one for a pilot however both were postponed because of COVID.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has definitely been an extremely bumpy road! Firstly to start off with being bi-polar, it makes a lot of things difficult. When I was hospitalized over ten years ago, I thought that was the end of my career and being stuck in Hong Kong was the worst experience of my life, I lived in a troublesome household and partied too much, which landed me in a lot of trouble (I’m now sober). Just my whole upbringing in Hong Kong was hard, I was a fish out of water, and being gay as well in a conservative country caused all sorts of emotional issues and I felt I was being hit with a lot of prejudice. I was desperate to get out of there and when I finally made it to America, things got better. However, my parents divorced which affected my lifestyle a little bit.
So I worked way more than I needed to. I loved every moment of graduate school, it was the best experience of my life thus far, However, I felt a little boxed in, it was very like you’re a screenwriter so you should be doing this, and I never was someone that stuck to the rules I was given, so I was that odd guy that school who the directors didn’t really see as a director, and the screenwriters saw as someone wanting to be someone else. But I knew who I was and that was all that counted. I’m an artist and I live to express myself in all ways possible. Right now, COVID is another struggle but hopefully, we’ll get through this stronger than we were before.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’m a film director/screenwriter. I write horror films and dark dramas, a large portion of them have an LGBT perspective. I liken myself to the love child of Ana Lily Amirpour and Xavier Dolan. I think I have a very unique perspective with my work because I have a very diverse international background, and I grew up raised by three women so I’m a super feminist though I’m still learning at times, having come from an Asian country so I do occasionally slip up with non-pc things. I think what’s I do is I really give to my art, I share my soul and my heart fully which wasn’t always the case and developed as I studied in graduate school.
I make stories mainly out of unrequited love, as that’s been my experience but hopefully this will change soon and when I have a passion for something or someone it definitely shows in my work. I’m a giver really. I’m an activist too for mental health, minorities, LGBT issues and women’s rights. One thing I’m pretty proud of is a recent short I made called My Boyfriend the Boogeyman. It was a one man project, which I acted, shot and directed in my bedroom and it’s been doing pretty well on the festival circuit. I also published a coffee table book of my Light Photography which you can find here: https://www.amazon.com/Light-Up-Nikhail-Asnani/dp/1714254003
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I think success in the end has less to do with your career than people think, though that helps. Success to me is finding happiness and as someone who has struggled to find this yet found recognition for my work, I know that the battle we fight is never won just by an award but rather by finding personal happiness. It sounds simple and easy but to me, it’s much harder than writing a novel. I’m still on this journey, it’s been hard and I’m getting a lot of help these days to guide me. As they say, the richest man is rich from within and to achieve this we need to build ourselves from within.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.itsnicklovely.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/itsnicklovely
- Other: IMDb Nick lovely
Image Credit:
Nikhail Asnani
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