Experiencing Interruptions?

Not Nice

One impulsive night at a hotel bar pushes a desperate man into a spiral of bad choices and moral collapse. As his inhibitions fade, he threatens to shatter what's left of his carefully constructed life.

Not Nice is a dark, slippery American portrait of quiet self-destruction.

  • Taylor Hayes Suggs
    Director
  • Taylor Hayes Suggs
    Writer
  • Zona Electronic Films
    Producer
  • Jacob Wilson
    Key Cast
    "Eddie"
  • Sappir Argov
    Key Cast
    "Cara"
  • Chris Dorado
    Key Cast
    "O.B."
  • Adam Clark
    Key Cast
    "Olsen"
  • Mike Wilson
    Key Cast
    "Richard"
  • Lauren Fitzgerald
    Key Cast
    "Holly"
  • Taylor Hayes Suggs
    Editing
  • Alexis Contreras
    Cinematography
  • Taylor Hayes Suggs
    Cinematography
  • Vanna Vandal
    Make Up Artist
  • Arik Silva
    Assitant Director
  • Joaquin Cercado
    Electric/Boom
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    16 minutes 8 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 1, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    6,400 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States, United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, BMPCC6K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Taylor Hayes Suggs

Taylor Hayes Suggs (b. 1996, Visalia, CA) is a self-taught filmmaker shaped by the DIY spirit of the DSLR era and early exposure to high school video production and drama classes. Supplementing hands-on experience with summer filmmaker programs and endless online tutorials, Suggs has spent over a decade independently producing 12 short films, directing seven of them.

Working primarily as a writer, cinematographer, editor and director, his style is heavily influenced by the raw honesty of 1970's global cinema and the kinetic, genre-bending energy of 1990's American video store directors. Suggs co-founded Zona Electronic Films with longtime collaborator Gage Nelson, releasing digital narrative projects that carry the ethos of scrappy independent filmmaking into the modern era.

The son of a painter-chef and a nurse, Suggs draws inspiration from both the spoils of life's subtleties and the painful realities that come with being human. Working as a nursing assistant in California's central valley, he is driven by the real stories of working-class people - individuals who may not have everything, but who move forward with resilience, finding moments of beauty amid the everyday chaos.

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Director Statement

With Not Nice, I set out to explore greed, selfishness and consequence through a character-first lens. Rather than starting with a plot, I began by designing flawed, human characters - then asked what kind of story they would force into existence. In many ways, the characters wrote the short film themselves.

In today's world of apathy, fatalism and quiet desperation, I wanted to personify those tensions through characters who make questionable - sometimes indefensible - decisions. My hope was to split the audience: to have them root for some choices and recoil from others, but always recognize the humanity underneath. I don't endorse every action these characters take. I simply wanted to ask, honestly: "Would you do better? Would I? I hope so... but I'm not so sure anymore."

Our team approached the craft of this project - the blocking, lighting, performances, and story structure - with a traditionalist's spirit. Many characters wear traditional archetypes, sometimes sincerely, sometimes as camouflage. This is a noir story you've seen before, but not like this. Not Nice plays inside a classical American mold, only to stretch that mold until it threatens to break.