Nicole Eckenroad

Nicole's first feature, Leave Yourself Alone, is a three-time award winning micro-budget verité film that depicts the lasting effect of a sexual assault on a young actor as two men film her struggle to land a break-out role. The film points its gaze at a vulnerable young woman through the eyes of male documentary filmmakers who challenge the morality of it by continuing to roll the camera as her trauma triggers an emotional and psychological break. In 2015, Nicole directed one of seven original Twilight franchise shorts in partnership with WIF, Stephenie Meyer, Facebook and Lionsgate. She was honored alongside the other directors at the Crystal+ Lucy Awards and the film was presented at the Arclight Hollywood followed by a Q&A with Stephenie Meyer. After years of working under production designers like Kevin Thompson, Adam Stockhausen, K.K. Barrett, Molly Hughes, Mark Friedberg and Deb Jensen, Nicole was accepted into The AFI Conservatory Directing Program, wrapping her career as an Assistant Art Director on Steven Spielberg's West Side Story. She was the recipient of the Women In Film/Tichi-Wilkerson Endowed Scholarship and the AFI Scholarship Fund upon entering the Conservatory. Her short film, You, was an Official Selection of Outfest's 40th and New Fest 22'.