Meet Nathan Faudree | Screenwriter, Director, Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nathan Faudree and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nathan, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I hate taking risks. But that is the only way to move forward. There is that saying that “Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.” And that is true. The one that really spoke to me years ago was “A ship is safe in a harbor. But that’s not what ships are for.” The biggest thing about taking risks is that fear of failure. And the good and bad news is that I will continue to fail. I will continue to be uncomfortable. I will continue to be scared. Because that’s what it always comes down to for me. That fear. I think that’s why I primarily work in horror as a genre. It is an opportunity for me to be constantly examining and analyzing my fears. And then I get to share them with everyone else. hahaha

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Currently I am a screenwriter, specifically working in genre films like horror and sci-fi. I have two films out currently, A WOUNDED FAWN that I co-wrote with Travis Stevens and my micro-budget directorial debut SITE 13. However I have worked on pretty much every aspect of indie films over the year, from acting (I played Bigfoot twice) to crew. I started as an actor working in theatre, doing Shakespeare and straight plays but my love of genre was always lurking in the background and made a little bit of a name for myself in the indie horror scene during the early 2000s. After years of struggling as an actor I expanded out into writing, directing and producing to create more opportunities for myself and have found that writing specifically is incredibly satisfying to me. It helps me scratch that itch to be creative and I don’t need to ask anyone’s permission to do it. I started working part time as a writer with Mark Cheng. And then I really dove into it during the pandemic. I was trapped all alone in my apartment in NYC and I knew that if I didn’t do something I would lose my damn mind. So, I said to myself, “You’ve always wanted more time to write. Guess what? You got the time now.” So I sat down and treated it like my job, every day sitting down at the desk and working out all of my fears and anxieties in horror movies. I ended up writing 8 movies that year. And luckily my friend Joe Barbagallo was getting his production company off the ground and looking for scripts. And I had plenty to hand over. So the biggest lesson that I learned was to write everyday. Write for my own sanity first. Write because I have to. Write to create. And then reach out to the people around you and the people that you respect when you have a few scripts you feel good about.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Being a horror fan, I would hit Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank. Start at the Mystic Museum for whatever exhibit they’ve got going on, head over to their Slashback Video installation. Hit up Blast from the Past, grab coffee at Black Elephant and then finish off at Dark Delicacies before heading downtown to go to Pink’s for hot dogs. I’m not fancy.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many incredible people that have helped me along on my journey. My producing partners, Joe Barbagallo from BarBHouse Productions and Mark Cheng have really helped having my back and support in the crazy film industry. But my boyfriend Ryan Coots has to deal with me on all the other days in between, so he is definitely the one that deserves most of the credit.

Website: www.thenathanfaudree.com

Instagram: @dangeryak