Nicholas Thurkettle
Actor; Author/Writer; Filmmaker; Playwright; Producer; Teacher/Instructor
Nicholas Thurkettle is a writer, actor, and filmmaker. His horror feature Black Friday is currently in development with Midnight Drive-In Pictures for Thurkettle to direct from his original screenplay. His short films have played over 40 festivals around the world, winning awards such as Best Director, People’s Choice – Best Short Film, and Best Comedy Short. His short film “The Dinner Scene” was acquired for distribution by the curated independent film streaming platform Seed & Spark.
Room 9 Entertainment (Thank You For Smoking) purchased his comedy screenplay Queen Lara, he has optioned and developed multiple screenplays with filmmakers, and he was hired to write the Crunchyroll anime pilot “Children of Ether”, which premiered on over 300 U.S. movie screens as part of Anime Movie Night.
He has three books published – the short story collection Stages of Sleep and the sci-fi thrillers Seeing by Moonlight and A Sickness in Time; the latter two co-written with M.F. Thomas. His plays have been produced on regional stages in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, West Virginia, Maryland, and throughout California, including at the OC-Centric New Play Festival and the Hollywood Fringe Festival. His one-act play “The Rothko” is represented for licensing by publisher Heartland Plays.
He recently starred in the independent drama To a Dead Friend, from Sundance alumni filmmaker Mike Sakamoto, and also has major roles in the features Cloudy With a Chance of Sunshine, Revelator, The Whip, Aventura!, Afterthought, and Reclaiming Friendship Park, for which he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Love International Film Festival. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at FilmQuest and Best Actor at the Nightmares Film Festival for his role in the sci-fi/horror short “Prefigured”. He is also a prolific voice actor in animation, videogames, audiobooks, and corporate voice-over; and performed for five seasons with the heralded outdoor festival Shakespeare Orange County, serving as Artistic Associate and Casting Director. He is actor-manager of the Modjeska Shakespeare Players, bringing showcases and workshops to schools and non-profits, and also performs pop-up Shakespeare shows in bars and restaurants with the troupe BS Theatre.
He is a writer, producer, director, and performer with the award-winning sci-fi/fantasy/horror anthology audio drama podcast Earbud Theater, as well as producer/head writer of their live stage spin-off. He is also the principal narrator for the Parsec Award-winning Brick Moon Fiction Podcast, showcasing new short stories from up-and-coming sci-fi and horror authors.
Thurkettle teaches workshops in voice acting and regularly guest lectures at campuses on storytelling and screenwriting. He has spoken on panels at the Phoenix and Borrego Springs Film Festivals, Creative Screenwriting Expo, and the Willamette Writers Conference, and judged for both UCLA’s MFA Screenwriting Competition and the Nicholl Fellowship. He works with the non-profit arts agency Arts Orange County, coordinating their local Emerging Arts Leaders program, and serves as an Associate Programmer – Short Films for the Newport Beach Film Festival.
He has volunteered for the Second Harvest Food Bank and Laura’s House, and annually captains a team for the Orange County Out of the Darkness Walk raising money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He graduated Bradley University with degrees in Theatre and Music and a Global Scholar option from a semester of study at Hull University in the U.K., and is a proud member of the Writers Guild of America and the Orange County Playwrights Alliance.
