My story here.
Nicholas J. Santore is a filmmaker and designer who grew up watching the Bulls with his grandma in the suburbs of Chicago and riding go-karts and BMX bikes with his little brother in the suburbs of Arizona. His upbringing sparked his love of producing coming-of-age and family focused films; including the short documentary NICK SANTORE (Chicago International Film Festival, Vimeo Staff Pick), which examines his own father-son relationship.
While in Chicago he founded a production studio where he produced branded films for Nike, Uber, Intel, Wrangler Jeans, and Clif Bar. Upon his move to LA, he formed the motion picture collective COY COYOTE and produced MY DUDUŚ, a short documentary about a lonely mother raising a squirrel. The film premiered at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival, landed on The New York Times and PBS, received the Best Documentary and Audience Choice awards on Short of the Week, and was named an Academy Award contender by The Hollywood Reporter.
His directorial debut short documentary BOUNCY BROTHERS premiered in 2025 in competition for best short at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, was an official selection at the Academy Qualifying Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, and was acknowledged with best direction at the Charlotte Film Festival.