Nicholas Bushman

Nicholas Bushman was born April 6, 1984 in Columbus, Ohio. From a very early age, he wanted to make films and at age 16 he dropped out of high school to pursue filmmaking full-time. While working as a freelance editor and script doctor, he wrote the screenplay for what would become his first feature film, Sandbar (2012). Filmed largely in his own great-grandmother's house, the lively dark comedy follows a day in the life of a haunted marine, Ronnie McCubbing, and his estranged son. The role of Ronnie McCubbing was played by 80s legend Rick Rossovich, of Top Gun (1986) fame, who left his semi-retirement and committed to the production after Bushman flew to his home in Stockholm, to convince him to take the part. The film received a small theatrical run in 2012 and was later acquired by the award-winning distributor Virgil Films for a DVD release the following summer. In his acclaimed follow-up, Union Furnace (2015), Bushman set about crafting a terrifying tale that evoked the grinding economic realities and precarious living of the Rustbelt areas where he grew up. The script for "Union Furnace" arose from his collaboration with producer and "Sandbar" co-star Mike Dwyer. Bushman and Dwyer were longtime friends who had made numerous short films together since childhood. "Union Furnace", which was produced on a shoestring budget and completed production in just 22 days, saw Bushman enlisting genre-favorite Keith David to star alongside Dwyer and other "Sandbar" alums. The film was released theatrically and on video-on-demand in the summer of 2015 by Bushman and Dwyer's own distribution label, BFD, and cemented the promise of "Sandbar". Bushman expanded his canvas for his third effort, the sweeping thriller Stranger in the Dunes (2016). Shot in the remote Outer Banks of North Carolina, the film features explosive performances and a breathtaking visual and psychological palate that breaks new cinematic ground while paying loving homage to the classic European thrillers that inspired it. In his first three films, Bushman has announced himself as one of the most promising voices outside of the Hollywood establishment. He is now in production on his fourth feature film, the sci-fi thriller Future Lies (2018).