Nic Barker

Nic Barker
b. October 24, 1991, Melbourne, Australia.

BIOGRAPHY: A graduate of Deakin University's Bachelor of Film and Digital Media in 2012, Nic Barker is an internationally recognised, award-winning independent filmmaker whose 30+ films have screened in more than 200 film festivals worldwide.

His comedy Pint (2013, 9 mins) was one of the most successful Australian shorts of 2014, selected in 70 film festivals and garnering over 30 awards. His subsequent shorts, To Have and Withhold (2014, 6 mins) and Dead Sharks (2015, 15 mins), have also been met with substantial industry acclaim.

Nic debuted his first feature film Short Distance (2017, 61 mins) on the festival circuit in 2017, and is currently putting together his second feature film.


	Dad

CRITICAL OVERVIEW: I think the direction I’ve taken as a filmmaker is trying to find the smaller moments that get missed between the bigger ones – those little incidents that happen that are as significant as huge crescendos, even though they might slip by unnoticed. There’s certainly films I’ve made that contradict this, like the slapstick comedy Pint or the car argument scene in Dead Sharks, but certainly it’s the way I’m headed in terms of the material I’m interested in.

Over time I’ve become progressively more enamored with the technology of filmmaking – I think knowing and understanding the tools we use is really useful in being able to tell stories more effectively. Whether I’m working with a DP or shooting my own stuff, I always try to use the most appropriate tools for the job – and given the nature of my stories, these kits are fairly pared back. Maybe that’s my inner producer keeping the purse-strings tight, I don’t know.

But none of that matters if you don’t have good stories, and interesting ways to tell them. I think whilst I’ve tended to gravitate towards subject matter such as love and relationships as of late, I think the skill set of directing is fairly universal. Good communication, the ability to mentally keep your head above water and make fast decisions, and having drive and passion to lead are what I’ve found essential. At the end of the day, in the independent space, being respectful and polite helps too – we’re all making this stuff for the love, after all.

My biggest belief though is that cinema doesn’t have to have a lot of money behind it. What I love doing is, in between projects larger in scale, going out and just making films with no budget. It’s a chance for filmmakers to hone their craft, practice, experiment, without taking a huge financial risk. It’s very creatively liberating to make no-budget cinema, and having this attitude is what’s allowed me to make all the stuff I have thus far, even if I haven’t been happy with all of it. You learn valuable stuff every time you go out and just do it.

- Nic Barker, July 2017.

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