Meet Nicholas Chissus | Director/Writer

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

Hi Nicholas, why did you pursue a creative career?
This is going to sound extremely conceited but I never really had a choice. As long as I can remember I was obsessed with movies and knew that if I didn’t pursue some kind of related career, I would never be satisfied. Actually, I never really thought of it as a viable career but instead a passion to center my life around. I didn’t start considering as a legitimate way to make a living until recently, after moving to Atlanta and entering into the grad program at SCAD. To be totally honest, I still don’t. This is why I rely mostly on my day job for steady income, working at a rental house, while taking as many production gigs on the side as possible. However my main focus now coming out of film school is developing and producing my own projects, one of which will be shot this Spring.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As an amatuer filmmaker, making something that induces a specific feeling within the audience, be it bad or good, is the main goal. I’ve always been on the side of ‘film is art’ as opposed to entertainment (though I’m aware it can be both), so I tend to lean towards and produce experimental and arthouse films. However professionally, most of my work comes from projects that are commercially viable, such as music videos, web series, proof of concepts, and commercials. This is a reality of the industry I’ve come to accept and actually embrace more and more after realizing I really just like working on set, I like the medium of film (video). Specifically, I get gigs through acquaintances I’ve met on set or through SCAD, usually in the camera department or as an Assistant Director, as these are my two places of expertise. It’s not easy or consistent so having a day job is another reality I’ve come to accept. It’s a lot of hard work for (often) little reward but at the end of the day, I’m having a blast wouldn’t change it for anything.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This is the hardest question so far… there’s too many places to name. As far as eat and drink, hands down best bar and best lemon pepper wings in the city is 97 Estoria. I’m also a big fan of Church, 12th st, Righteous Room, and of course The Local for their wings and cheap pitchers. Glide and Grant Central for pizza, Nick’s on MLK for gyros, Hero Donuts, Ponko, and Java Saga for best chicken sandwich I’ve ever had. Atlanta is severely underrated for food in my opinion. There’s also an awesome music scene in Little 5 Points and East Atlanta Village and Georgia’s oldest movie theater The Plaza. However, being from the West Coast, one thing that the city lacks to me is convenient access to the outdoors. For that, I love going to the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Smokeys which are both a few hours away but worth the drive.

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?
I would be remiss to not shoutout all of my peers I’ve met over my time at SCAD and in Atlanta, people who have constantly been there on set to push me to be the best filmmaker I can be. However, the whole reason I’m even here and attempting to build a career in the industry is my mom. She was insistent that I do something with my life that makes me happy, no matter how crazy or, in my case, expensive. A few months before I got into SCAD and moved to Atlanta, she passed away from cancer. Everything I’ll accomplish going foreward will be because of her unconditional love and support.

Instagram: sewage_baby

Other: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user84194910

Image Credits
Selbi Rejepova, Diego Vargas