Rob Nilsson
Encyclopedia
Rob Nilsson is an American
independent film director
, writer, and sometimes actor. He has won the Caméra d'Or
at the Cannes Film Festival
and the Sundance
Grand Jury Prize.
and in the San Francisco Bay Area
, graduating from Tamalpais High School
in Mill Valley, California
in 1957. He graduated from Harvard in 1962 and began working in film.
(1978), was co-written and co-directed with John Hanson
, tells of the struggles of North Dakota farmers in 1915 organizing to resist the effects of bank foreclosures. The film was well-received, winning the Caméra d'Or (best first film) at the Cannes Film Festival
.
That was followed by the landmark independent film, Signal 7, the first film to be successfully transferred from video to 35mm. Signal 7 , which was produced by Don Taylor and Ben Myron
, Bay Area art house exhibitors, and executive-produced by Francis Ford Coppola
, was shot over the course of four nights. It premiered at the Telluride Film Festival
.
His next film, On the Edge (1985) starred Bruce Dern
and Pam Grier
, and was his most "Hollywood" effort to date. Of it, Roger Ebert
wrote "It would all be very predictable, I thought, but I was wrong. On the Edge may have a familiar formula, but it is an angry, original, unpredictable movie. And it's not about winning. It's about the reasons that athletes carry in their hearts after all strength and reason have fled."
He writes a column for Res Magazine
.
Nilsson claimed to co-write and co-direct the feature film Security with film students at the University of California, Berkeley
, where he was an artist-in-residence at the Pacific Film Archive. The film details the paranoia and insecurities of college students Post-9/11
and has been referred to as another example of Mumblecore
. The film won the Audience Award at GreenCine's DIVX Film Festival, the first internationally juried film festival created for the internet. Many of the film students, such as Brett Simon
, Debbie Heimowitz, and David Herrera, have gone on to successful careers in film.
In October 2007, he completed the final film in his nine part feature film series called 9@Night - about the lives of the homeless in San Francisco's tenderloin. The experiment was started several years ago, and features intertwined plot lines and characters. Each film takes a unique approach to story telling - with the complete package creating a virtual world that wraps itself around the viewer. By the end, viewers will miss their onscreen friends - the nice and the not-so-nice ones.
The 9@Night film series comes from Nilsson's time spent with the Tenderloin Group Players Ensemble, a group of homeless people who participated in improv acting workshops. Many of these individuals appear in his films as lead characters.
He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Silverlake Film Festival, in Hollywood, California. Attendees included Philip Seymour Hoffman
and many independent cinema critics.
Nilsson is a pioneer in digital film making being one of the first to use purely digital methods to create his pieces. Editor Chikara Motomura and producer Kevin Winterfield joined Nilsson in the late 90s to promote digital filmmaking as a way to decrease the budget requirements for producing independent films and to create an intimate aesthetic that pre-dates modern-day reality TV.
Taking Nilsson's Direct Action Cinema approach, which he developed earlier in his career, Nilsson, Motomura and Winterfield created an improvisational theater approach that allows creative storytelling about real people, in seminal struggles around the globe.
With the completion of the 9@Night Series, Nilsson turns his focus to the subject of love.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
independent film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, writer, and sometimes actor. He has won the Caméra d'Or
Caméra d'Or
The Caméra d'Or is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes' selections ....
at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
and the Sundance
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
Grand Jury Prize.
Early life and education
Nilsson grew up in Rhinelander, WisconsinRhinelander, Wisconsin
Rhinelander is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 7,735 at the 2000 census.-Claim to fame:...
and in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
, graduating from Tamalpais High School
Tamalpais High School
Tamalpais High School is a public secondary school located in Mill Valley, California. It is named after nearby Mount Tamalpais, which rises more than above Mill Valley....
in Mill Valley, California
Mill Valley, California
Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge. The population was 13,903 at the 2010 census.Mill Valley is located on the western and northern shores of Richardson Bay...
in 1957. He graduated from Harvard in 1962 and began working in film.
Film career
His first film, Northern LightsNorthern Lights (1978 film)
Northern Lights was a 1978 independent film which dramatizes the founding of the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota, a Socialist political movement which took place in the American Midwest in the early 1900s....
(1978), was co-written and co-directed with John Hanson
John Hanson (director)
John Hanson is an American movie director and cinematographer.- Early Life :Born in St. Paul, Minnesota and raised in North Dakota, John Hanson received his B.A...
, tells of the struggles of North Dakota farmers in 1915 organizing to resist the effects of bank foreclosures. The film was well-received, winning the Caméra d'Or (best first film) at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
.
That was followed by the landmark independent film, Signal 7, the first film to be successfully transferred from video to 35mm. Signal 7 , which was produced by Don Taylor and Ben Myron
Ben Myron
Ben Myron is a film producer. His sixteen credits range from low-budget independent films to big-budget studio films .-Career:...
, Bay Area art house exhibitors, and executive-produced by Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
, was shot over the course of four nights. It premiered at the Telluride Film Festival
Telluride Film Festival
The Telluride Film Festival was started in 1974 by Bill and Stella Pence, Tom Luddy and Jim Card in the town of Telluride, Colorado, United States. It is operated by the National Film Preserve....
.
His next film, On the Edge (1985) starred Bruce Dern
Bruce Dern
Bruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
and Pam Grier
Pam Grier
Pamela Suzette "Pam" Grier is an American actress. She became famous in the early 1970s, after starring in a string of moderately successful women in prison and blaxploitation films such as 1974's Foxy Brown. Her career was revitalized in 1997 after her appearance in Quentin Tarantino's film...
, and was his most "Hollywood" effort to date. Of it, Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
wrote "It would all be very predictable, I thought, but I was wrong. On the Edge may have a familiar formula, but it is an angry, original, unpredictable movie. And it's not about winning. It's about the reasons that athletes carry in their hearts after all strength and reason have fled."
He writes a column for Res Magazine
RES (magazine)
RES was a bi-monthly magazine chronicling the best in cutting edge film, music, art, design and culture. RES was launched with a preview issue in January 1997 at the Sundance Film Festival. The full-length premiere issue debuted in August 1997 with music video directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie...
.
Nilsson claimed to co-write and co-direct the feature film Security with film students at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, where he was an artist-in-residence at the Pacific Film Archive. The film details the paranoia and insecurities of college students Post-9/11
Post-9/11
Post-9/11 is a term used to describe state of living in the United States or other parts of the world after the September 11 attacks, in reference to the many changes that have occurred due to the attacks...
and has been referred to as another example of Mumblecore
Mumblecore
Mumblecore is an American independent film movement that arose at the turn of the 21st century. Filmmakers associated with the movement include Andrew Bujalski, Lynn Shelton, Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Aaron Katz, Joe Swanberg, and Barry Jenkins....
. The film won the Audience Award at GreenCine's DIVX Film Festival, the first internationally juried film festival created for the internet. Many of the film students, such as Brett Simon
Brett Simon
Brett Simon is an American commercial, music video and film director.-Career:Simon graduated from Princeton University summa cum laude in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Comparative Literature and Creative Writing, and later graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2002 with...
, Debbie Heimowitz, and David Herrera, have gone on to successful careers in film.
In October 2007, he completed the final film in his nine part feature film series called 9@Night - about the lives of the homeless in San Francisco's tenderloin. The experiment was started several years ago, and features intertwined plot lines and characters. Each film takes a unique approach to story telling - with the complete package creating a virtual world that wraps itself around the viewer. By the end, viewers will miss their onscreen friends - the nice and the not-so-nice ones.
The 9@Night film series comes from Nilsson's time spent with the Tenderloin Group Players Ensemble, a group of homeless people who participated in improv acting workshops. Many of these individuals appear in his films as lead characters.
He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Silverlake Film Festival, in Hollywood, California. Attendees included Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman is an American actor and director. Hoffman began acting in television in 1991, and the following year started to appear in films...
and many independent cinema critics.
Nilsson is a pioneer in digital film making being one of the first to use purely digital methods to create his pieces. Editor Chikara Motomura and producer Kevin Winterfield joined Nilsson in the late 90s to promote digital filmmaking as a way to decrease the budget requirements for producing independent films and to create an intimate aesthetic that pre-dates modern-day reality TV.
Taking Nilsson's Direct Action Cinema approach, which he developed earlier in his career, Nilsson, Motomura and Winterfield created an improvisational theater approach that allows creative storytelling about real people, in seminal struggles around the globe.
With the completion of the 9@Night Series, Nilsson turns his focus to the subject of love.
External links
- Citizen Cinema Rob Nilsson's official site
- Rob Nilsson on the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Roger Ebert's review of On the Edge.
- CineSource Article on Nilsson's Career