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Jeffrey Ryan Nichols (born December 7, 1978) is an American filmmaker, director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterized by their Southern United States backdrop and ambience, slice-of-life depictions of rural and working class characters and the study of their struggles, American masculinity, and the cultural clash between traditionalism and modernism. He is also known for his longstanding collaboration with actor Michael Shannon, who has appeared in all of his feature films to date.
After studying filmmaking at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Nichols moved into the independent filmmaking scene with Shotgun Stories (2007). He went on to direct the critically acclaimed films Take Shelter (2011), Mud (2012), Midnight Special (2016), Loving (2016), and The Bikeriders (2023).
Nichols moved into independent productions with 2011's Take Shelter, also starring Shannon, and 2012's Mud, starring Matthew McConaughey, which competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. In 2012, Nichols acted as president of the jury of the 7th Rome Film Festival. His 2016 sci-fi drama film Midnight Special competed for the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. The same year, he directed the drama Loving, a film about the landmark U.S. civil rights court case Loving v. Virginia, which was nominated for numerous awards, including a Golden Globe nomination for lead actor Joel Edgerton and Academy Awards and Golden Globe nominations for lead actress Ruth Negga.
Six of Nichols' films have featured Shannon: Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter, Mud, Midnight Special, Loving and The Bikeriders. Speaking of his frequent collaboration with Shannon, Nichols stated: "(Shannon) is not just a collaborator; he has become family to me. I owe my career to Michael Shannon. I learned how to direct from directing Michael Shannon. So, from the outside, it can feel kind of cute, but it’s not. I love that guy, and I want him in movies because he’s the greatest actor in the world. And if you’re a director and you have access to the greatest actor in the world, it makes sense that you would call him all the time."
In 2016, Nichols was hired to direct a remake of Alien Nation, but the project never came to fruition. "That’s one of the reasons it’s taken me so long to make another film," Nichols said in a 2023 interview. "I spent like four years on that. And we were at the 1-yard line. I had a cast, we were ready to go, but the universe didn’t want me to make that right then." Later, it was revealed that the script Nichols wrote for Alien Nation would be retooled into an original film and produced by Paramount Pictures.
In 2018, he directed the short film Long Way Back Home, which was inspired by a song of the same name that was written by his brother Ben and released by the country punk band, Lucero. It stars Michael Shannon, who searches the streets and backroads of Memphis for his two younger brothers, played by Garrett Hedlund and Scoot McNairy.
In 2020, it was reported that Nichols would be writing and directing Yankee Comandante, adapted from David Grann's article in The New Yorker about Che Guevara and William Alexander Morgan. Adam Driver was announced as starring in the film.
In November 2020, it was announced that Nichols would be directing and writing the screenplay for . In May 2021, it was announced he finished the script for the film. However, he departed the project in October 2021, to focus on a new science fiction project also in development at Paramount Pictures.
In August 2022, it was announced that Nichols would be directing The Bikeriders, a film inspired by the Danny Lyon book of the same name. It is produced by Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, through Tri-State, their company shared with Nichols. Fred Berger will be executive producer. The ensemble cast features Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Boyd Holbrook, Damon Herriman, Toby Wallace, Emory Cohen, Beau Knapp, Karl Glusman, Happy Anderson, and Mike Faist.
In May 2024, it was announced that Nichols would direct adaptations of the Cormac McCarthy novels The Passenger and Stella Maris with New Regency, which also backed Nichols' most recent directorial effort The Bikeriders, producing.
In October 2025, FilmNation Entertainment began sales for Nichols' next film, a Southern Gothic horror film entitled King Snake. The film will star Margaret Qualley and Drew Starkey as a couple inheriting a haunted farm, and will also feature his regular collaborator Shannon.
Nichols' filmmaking style is rooted in the arts, lifestyle, and culture of the Southern United States, often challenging stereotypical portrayals of Southerners in cinema, taking influence and inspiration from Southern literature by the likes of Mark Twain and Southern Gothic writers Cormac McCarthy and Larry Brown, films such as Sling Blade by Billy Bob Thornton, Frailty by Bill Paxton, and Lone Star by John Sayles, and Nichols' own upbringing in Arkansas.
| 2007 | Shotgun Stories | |||
| 2011 | Take Shelter | |||
| 2012 | Mud | |||
| 2016 | Midnight Special | |||
| Loving | ||||
| In the Radiant City | ||||
| 2023 | The Bikeriders | |||
Additional literary material only
Executive producer
Music video
| 2018 | "Long Way Back Home" |
Podcast
| 2020 | Hank the Cowdog |
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