NICHOLAS PAYNE SANTOS - Writer/Director/Producer
Nicholas Payne Santos is a filmmaker based in NYC. He was born and raised on Cape Cod and is bi-racial (Black/white). Santos received his MFA in Creative Producing from Columbia University in 2019.
Nicholas’ feature directorial debut IT CUTS DEEP was released by Dark Sky Films in 2020. It made its World Premiere at Nightstream. The film is currently on Tubi and was previously on Showtime, Paramount+, Shudder and AMC+. The feature UNCLE PECKERHEAD, produced by Santos, was released in 2020 by Epic Pictures. The film currently sits at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Nicholas’ short films MOTHER F**KER and HOLIDAY FEAR were both picked up for streaming by Arrow in 2021 which Quentin Tarantino described as “The only actual subscription that I have... Cause that's a bunch of cool shit.”
Santos has multiple films in development and post-production. In 2023, Nicholas produced the horror feature BLEEDING which is currently in post. In ‘22, Santos produced the thriller BURY ME WHEN I’M DEAD which was selected for the 2023 Cannes Marche du Film’s Frontieres Market - Buyer’s Showcase. In ‘21, his supernatural horror project STRANGE CREATURES was selected for Fantasia’s Frontieres Market. Nicholas’ screenplay YOU KILL ME was selected for Columbia’s Blue List in partnership with The Black List. And Santos produced the supernatural horror feature THE ARBORIST which is currently in post.
New England filmmaker Nicholas Payne Santos skewers toxic masculinity, sometimes literally, in this darkly funny debut, about a man named Sam (comedian Charles Gould) who returns home with long-time girlfriend Ashley (Quinn Jackson), only for his fears about getting married and having kids to spiral out of control. When a handsome childhood friend (John Anderson) turns up on the doorstep, Sam quickly dispenses with the pleasantries as he senses a possible rival for Ashley’s affections. What initially plays like Santos’ anxiety dream about commitment soon reveals itself to be deliciously self-aware and bloodthirsty; like Josh Ruben's recent “Scare Me,” on Shudder, “It Cuts Deep” actively reconsiders its male gaze in shape-shifting between mumblecore, slasher, and psychodrama.
- Isaac Feldberg, RogerEbert.com
In his debut (“It Cuts Deep”) as a feature writer/director/editor, Nicholas Santos (a producer on this year’s punk gorefest “Uncle Peckerhead”) demonstrates a sure hand at melding disparate tones. Utilizing deft transitions and long takes that allow the cast’s banter to flow naturally, he crafts a portrait of a couple on some very jagged rocks. Gould and Jackson have great anti-chemistry, while Anderson keeps us guessing as to whether his threat is real or a figment of Sam’s mind. Kyle I. Kelley’s inviting cinematography of the Cape Cod locations seamlessly incorporates odd and unsettling details (such as a freaky outdoor Christmas display), complementing a movie in which troubled romance seems consistently on the verge of turning into something bloodcurdling.
- Michael Gingold, Rue Morgue