Brittani Nichols

Last updated
Brittani Nichols
Born
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Education Yale University (BA)
Occupation(s)Actor, writer, producer
Years active2012–present
Notable workSuicide Kale (2016)

Brittani Nichols (born June 20, 1988) [1] is an American producer, actress, comedian, and writer. [2] In 2016, Nichols wrote, produced, and starred in the film Suicide Kale, which won the Audience Award for Best U.S. Dramatic Feature at 2016 Outfest. She has written for the television programs A Black Lady Sketch Show , Take My Wife , Strangers , and Drop the Mic. [3] Nichols is a writer and producer for Abbott Elementary and won the Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series award at the 54th NAACP Image Awards for the episode "Student Transfer". [4] [5] As part of the producing team of Abbott Elementary, Nichols was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2023. [6]

Contents

Career

Television and film

Nichols moved to Los Angeles after college and developed the web series Words With Girls (2012), which she later rewrote as a full-length pilot that was produced by Issa Rae and Deniese Davis's initiative ColorCreative.tv. [7] [8] [9] The series centered a group of queer twenty-something roommates in LA and starred Nichols, Corbin Reid, Hannah Hart, Alex Sturman, and Lauren Neal. [9] In 2016, Nichols wrote, produced, and starred in Suicide Kale, a dark comedy with an all queer-woman cast. [10] Nichols stated in an interview that she set out to make a lesbian movie that "wasn’t about coming out, sleeping with a man, or a character death at the end". [11] Both Words with Girls and Suicide Kale draw on Nichols' own experiences as a lesbian, and she has stated repeatedly in interviews that she is committed to increasing LGBTQ and African-American representation in media. [12] Suicide Kale won the Audience Award for Best U.S. Dramatic Feature at Outfest. [3]

She has appeared in several television programs including A Black Lady Sketch Show , Take My Wife , and Transparent . [13] [10] Nichols was a writer for season one of the HBO series A Black Lady Sketch Show . [14] She has also written for Strangers , Drop the Mic, and Take My Wife. [15] She served as Consulting Producer for The Circle and Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness .

In 2020, it was announced that Nichols would produce a dramedy, Toothbrush, for Quibi through ColorCreative; however Quibi went out of business before the show was created. [16] [17]

She is a writer and producer for the ABC comedy Abbott Elementary and is represented by CAA. [18] [19] [20]

Other work

In 2016, she released a five-track EP, Brittani Nichols Likes You. [2] Nichols previously co-hosted two podcasts, Brand New Podcast with Ariana Lenarsky, and Hamilton the Podcast with Khalehla Rixon. [21] Nichols also is Writers Guild of America West Captain. [22]

Personal life

Nichols was born in Chicago. [23] After attending Thornwood High School, she attended Yale University, where she played on the women's basketball team and women's rugby team. [24]

She is gay and genderqueer. [25] She supported Hugo Soto-Martinez and Eunisses Hernandez during the 2022 Los Angeles elections. [26] [27]

Filmography

Acting

YearTitleRoleNotes
2012 Words with GirlsBrittani5 episodes
2013 Unicorn Plan-ItRandom SleeperEpisode: "Across the YOUniverse"
2015 Transparent Nicol3 episodes
2016 Suicide Kale Jasmine RawlingsAlso writer
2016 The Fat OneReeseEpisode: "Not Hungry"
2017 Rad LandsFarmer KnoxEpisode: "Big"
2018 Take My Wife Bethani2 episodes
2019 A Black Lady Sketch Show Barbecue Daddy #2 / Ex2 episodes

Writer

YearTitleNotes
2012 Words with Girls6 episodes
2015 The Xperiment26 episodes
2016 Suicide Kale Also actress
2017 Drop the Mic 6 episodes
2018 Take My Wife 5 episodes
2018 Strangers Episode: "First Skate"
2019 A Black Lady Sketch Show 6 episodes
2022 Abbott Elementary 2 episodes

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Yale". Yale. Archived from the original on 2019-04-11. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  2. 1 2 "Brittani Nichols Likes You And She's Proving It With Her New EP". Autostraddle. 2016-12-14. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  3. 1 2 "Outfest Award Winners Revealed as Andrew Ahn's 'Spa Night' Takes Grand Jury Prize". The Hollywood Reporter. 17 July 2016. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  4. ↑ "'Abbott Elementary' Writer Brittani Nichols On What To Expect From Tonight's Episode". HuffPost. 2022-10-12. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  5. ↑ Nordyke, Kimberly (2023-02-24). "NAACP Image Awards: 'Abbott Elementary,' 'Atlanta,' 'Better Call Saul' Among Night Four's Non-Televised Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  6. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (2023-07-12). "'Abbott Elementary' Writer-Producer's Reaction To Nomination Spotlights Somber Reality Of Emmy Celebration Amid WGA Strike". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  7. ↑ "Words With Girls: Brittani Nichols is on a Mission with New Pilot" . Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  8. ↑ "Brittani Nichols - 2007-08 - Women's Basketball". Yale University. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  9. 1 2 Bernard, Riese (2014-09-23). ""Words With Girls" Episode One Recap: Pilot This Pilot Into Your Heart This Minute". Autostraddle. Archived from the original on 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  10. 1 2 Nelson, Carrie (2016-10-21). "'Suicide Kale' Is a Hilarious Film About Queerness and Suicidal Feelings". Vice. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  11. ↑ Brown, Keah (2016-10-15). "Lunch with a Side of 'Suicide Kale'". Digital Fashion Magazine | Free Fashion Magazine | Fashion Magazine Online. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  12. ↑ "Q&A: The "Suicide Kale" Cast on Making Film More Inclusive". 2016-10-03. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  13. ↑ "Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher on making 'Take My Wife' season 2". The Daily Dot. 2018-06-08. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  14. ↑ "Mini Q+A with Brittani Nichols". GOLD Comedy. 2019-03-11. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  15. ↑ Harris, Lynn (2019-03-12). "Pro tip from Brittani Nichols: Say no". GOLD Comedy. Archived from the original on 2019-03-18. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  16. ↑ Otterson, Joe (2020-09-14). "Issa Rae's ColorCreative to Develop Dramedy Series 'Toothbrush' With Brittani Nichols at Quibi (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 2020-09-15. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  17. ↑ "My worst moment: 'Abbott Elementary' writer Brittani Nichols wishes she knew about the spit bucket". Chicago Tribune. 2023-03-07. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  18. ↑ "Heartthrob B. Nichols on Writing for Abbott Elementary and the Quest for More Black Queer Stories". Autostraddle. 2022-03-22. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  19. ↑ Hailu, Selome (2022-11-11). "'Abbott Elementary' Writer Brittani Nichols Signs With CAA (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  20. ↑ "'Abbott Elementary' writer on Jacob's crisis, finally letting Sheryl Lee Ralph sing". EW.com. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  21. ↑ "18 LGBTQ women in entertainment to celebrate this Women's History Month". GLAAD. 2018-03-22. Archived from the original on 2018-04-27. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  22. ↑ Rosenbloom, Alli (2023-05-02). "Brittani Nichols, 'Abbott Elementary' writer and WGA captain, says studios are 'running over the workers of this industry'". CNN. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  23. ↑ "Comedy Crush: Everything Brittani Nichols Touches Turns to Hilarious". Autostraddle. 2014-09-22. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  24. ↑ "Yale". Yale. Archived from the original on 2019-04-11. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  25. ↑ "Words With Girls: Brittani Nichols is on a Mission with New Pilot" . Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  26. ↑ @BisHilarious (April 19, 2022). "Eunisses is the shit. A community organizer with policy experience who still lives in the neighborhood she grew up in. She has seen the effects of gentrification and over-policing firsthand. And she grew up in a union household. Couldn't design a better candidate" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  27. ↑ @BisHilarious (February 20, 2022). "I'm hosting a fundraiser for Measure J architect @EunissesH & labor organizer @HugoForCD13 Monday at 7 pm. If you wanna hop on, DM me! You can also DONATE NOW! We gotta defeat the incumbents who together make up an evil sentient jumbo Jenga set" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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