We were lucky to catch up with Nick Benjamin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Nick, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Very funny actually! I was having the hardest time coming up with a name for a future production company of mine. My friends and I are avid movie watchers and we love randomly dropping movie quotes here and there. I grew up watching Disney movies and as a kid, one of my favorites to rewatch was the first Toy Story. One of my favorite moments in the movie is when all the toys plan their revenge against the bully, Sid. Woody eerily turns his head, ala The Exorcist, comes to life, and says “…so play nice.” As a kid, I always LOVED that line, and cheered on Woody and the other toys for teaching Sid a lesson. Then I though “huh…Play Nice. Has a nice ring to it.” Hence the birth of my production company Play Nice Entertainment. I wanted a name that didn’t feel genre specific, as I love all genres, yet had a Thriller undertone. Overall, that process is hard though! Took me a while to lock a name down.

Nick, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a Brazilian-American writer/director, who has been experimenting with filmmaking since I was twelve years old. Once I saw Jurassic Park, it was game over for any other career I had ever dreamed of pursuing. I knew I needed to ve a storyteller.

When I was only seventeen years old and a junior in high school, I won the award for Best Director/Picture at the Columbia College Hollywood summer film program for my short film How It Goes Down (2011). Since then, I have written, directed and produced several personal projects, as well as many student projects during my tenure at USC School of Cinematic Arts. Upon arriving at USC, I immediately jumped into working on a multitude of projects for undergraduate and graduate students alike. In 2018, I was a producer in several award-winning USC graduate theses including Here and Beyond (2018) and Something to Live For (2018). I was also nominated for a Student Academy Award for Co-Producing for the multi-award-winning short film Under Darkness (2018). After graduating, I began my journey into the world of directing by assisting acclaimed directors such as Michael Bay and Brad Peyton during Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production on their films 6 Underground and Atlas, respectively. I began directing music videos in my spare time, including a music video called “Flashback” by Holland Greco (2022), which made its debut on Nashville television in 2022. Taking the skills that I acquired along the way, I’m now focusing on writing and directing compelling and captivating stories of my own that encompass themes that look “outside the box” with a sense of wonder, while maintaining a thrilling edge. The short film I recently wrote and directed, A State Of (2023), has been making its way through the festival circuit – it screened at the Indie Gathering International Film Festival and we just got back from Catalina Film Festival. Currently, we are at Screamfest Horror Film Festival, which is exciting. On top of that, it has garnered a few wins and nominations at other film festivals, including Best Short Film Director, Best Medium Length Film, and a list of technical wins/nominations! My hope is to take this opportunity to use my short film as a proof of concept for a potential feature.

I love collaborating with friends and likeminded people. I hope my passion as a filmmaker shows in the work I have done. The best is yet to come!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The ability to see yours and your teams’ work on the big or small screen after a long and intense production process is always rewarding to me. Getting a response from the audience going on the journey you were hoping they would go through, or even them having a different experience than expected, is everything. Anything to keep the conversation going!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I would love to make the movies that I really wanted to see growing up as a kid. And to experience it with those who have a love for the art.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-benjamin-90b84346/
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9964108/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

Image Credits
Destiny Kelly and Brandon Bacall (Poster Designer and Picture taker, respectfully).