Meet Nicole Eckenroad | Writer-Director & Visual Artist

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

Hi Nicole, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I got very deep into directing before I realized I had to be in business. It was tragic. I do enjoy that part of it now––it gives me agency and power in what I create and who I collaborate with. There are a lot of talented and creative people, and without a pre-existing connection to the industry, I’ve had to become a confident salesperson to get through. There’s only one director for every film or episode of TV, and the majority of the cast and crew have at one point directed or would like to. The odds are ridiculous. You have to be everything at all times, relentlessly, strategically and unapologetically. I always had enough resources to create, and it made me a very independent person. What has been hard, is making the kind of art that needs more people and more money. I had to really adjust the way I operate in the world in order to get where I am today as a Writer-Director.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Things I experienced growing up, left me with gaps in my memory. I think my art comes from the very heightened moments that are left. They are detailed observations over a few hours and my films usually work in real time or in the course of a single day. It could come from my background in painting, but chicken or egg. I learned to create stories in a single frame and my interest was in the details of objects or people that no one else would look at unless I magnified them. I want to make people pay closer attention.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Ready? I want to publicly give credit to my therapist––not just mine, yours too. Mine validated my insane ambitions early in our work together and it erased a lot of the shame I had for daring to be bigger. There’s also a ton of healing I’ve done with her support that some would think is unrelated to career, but it’s all related.  I see that obstacle for a lot of people––introspection can be messy, but you get to a simpler more content place after doing the work. So thank you, thank you, thank you to her for making an immeasurable impact on my adulthood and career.

Website: nicoleeckenroad.com

Instagram: @neckenroad

Image Credits
Sebastián Chicchón Motta Evan Weidenkeller M.K. Sadler Bryce Holden