Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nick Gatsby. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nick , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I started learning my craft at 17 when I first started to write scripts. I would start from scratch in a notebook, and eventually I had an endless supply of stories and ideas scribbled across 25+ notebooks. I held into this method for a few years until I had the confidence to pick up a camera. At 19-20 I started filming on a cheap little FLIP video camcorder. I accumulated a bunch of random footage, and then once I filled up the camcorders memory, I taught myself to edit on Windows moviemaker (which is not good software). I took all this random footage and molded it into an unscripted movie called The Wrong Way Home. This is the best way I’d encourage any inspiring filmmaker to get started. I ended up teaching myself all these techniques when I was denied from Colorado Film School.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Nick Hackett. I go by the pen name Nick Gatsby, which is a nickname given to me by some of my filmmaking buddies. I started a production company with my love and partner Skye Armenta called Gatsmenta Films LLC. We specialize in film production and editing services for various clients throughout Colorado. We also produce our own films such as our award-winning short film “CLOSE-UP: an odyssey” and our feature film “ZAPPER!” which is currently streaming on Apple TV and Tubi. Gatsmenta specializes in experimental and surrealist films. We aspire to break the boundaries of storytelling and movies as a whole to give the world experiences they’ve never witnessed before in cinema.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I don’t see NFT’s as art. I think they are a cheap joke to scam people out of a lot of money. That’s not a slight against the graphic designers who create them, or the customers who purchase them, it’s just my personal opinion. For me art needs to exist in the real world, not the Metaverse.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Gatsmenta creates very trippy, surreal content that definitely doesn’t vibe completely with a vast audience. Our demographic is pretty niche. Me and Skye do what we do to keep creativity and fresh ideas/experiences alive and thriving. Most people don’t want to dive into a strange, experimental experience because it would require taking them out of their comfort zone. Despite this factor, we know our movies and content has the potential to open a persons mind, and introduce them to something spiritual through the art of creativity, almost like a mind-altering drug. It’s saddening that most people don’t want to expand their minds and imagination, but we are hopeful one day we will be able to produce films that are equally mind-expanding while also being accessible to a general audience.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ngatsby303
• Facebook: Facebook.com/gatsmentafilms
• Twitter: @gatsmentafilms
• Youtube: @gatsmentafilms

Image Credits
Skye Armenta Thomas Howell Ralph Giordano