A product of New York City’s politically turbulent and artistically rich period of the early 1980’s, Shan Nicholson’s work is a direct reflection of the message written on the walls of his childhood memories- “necessity breeds creativity”. Within the span of his 15-year career as a music producer, renowned graffiti artist, DJ and filmmaker, his work has been unabashedly inspired by a period that continues to influence the world over.

As a music producer/deejay, Shan’s work ranges from soulful hip hop to deep house. Nicholson continually moves New York hotspots, including the once legendary Bungalow 8, with genre-defying sets. It is, therefore, no coincidence that his uncanny ability to move and inspire masses eventually lead to the vision for his feature length documentary debut, Downtown Calling. The film has since continued to sell-out screenings throughout the international festival circuit, most recently HBO’s International Latino Film Festival. Downtown Calling has also garnered numerous accolades (including the Honorable Jury Mention – Best Documentary Feature at the Austin Film Festival) and extensive online press. Beyond the success of DOWNTOWN CALLING, Nicholson has focused equal attention on screen writing and directing music videos, with recent noted premieres on Pitchfork and Flux Screening Series.

Currently, his eagerly-awaited second documentary feature, RUBBLE KINGS, begins its festival run in Fall 2010. As a third documentary feature, A LOTTA NERVE, is under concurrent development. He is also in development on several screenplays that have emerged from his documentary work.