Jake Nielsen
Writer, Director, Composer
Jake Nielsen is an award-winning writer, director and composer for stage and screen.
His debut musical, The Atheist’s Guide to the Galaxy, with co-writer Matthew Predny, won the Audience Choice at the Sydney Fringe Festival (2012). His musical short film Did I Tell You ‘Bout Jasper? won the Audience Choice Award at the World of Women’s Cinema Festival (2015) and was an official selection at the Byron Bay International Film Festival, where he was nominated for Young Australian Film- Maker of the Year (2015). Jake wrote and directed the short film musical On Hold which won the Academy® Accredited Virgin Australia Award for Best Australian Short Film at Flickerfest (2018), was a finalist in the Dendy Awards at the Sydney Film Festival (2018), and was an Academy qualifying film for the 2019 Academy Awards®. In 2019 he co-wrote and directed the musical Miss Westralia for a sold-out season at the Blue Room Theatre, Perth. Jake writes music and lyrics for the immensely popular Screen Australia web-series One For All. In 2021 Jake won Best International Director at the Portland Comedy Film Festival for the short film And Don't Forget to Subscribe. Jake Directed the professional premiere of Miss Westralia for Western Sky Projects for a tour of WA throughout July & August 2021. Most recently Jake’s musical short On Hold was translated to Italian by bologna based theatre company Tweet Charity, for its European live performance premiere. Jake's work has been archived for preservation in the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
1 For All
In 2021 Jake wrote the Lyrics and music for the musical episode of the Screen Australia funded web series 1 For All. The episode screened before the D&D movie at Alamo Draft House screenings in 2023.
On Hold
Jake wrote and Directed this musical short based on his interminable, hellish, experience as a call centre worker. On Hold won the Academy® Accredited Virgin Australia Award for Best Australian Short Film at Flickerfest (2018), was a finalist in the Dendy Awards at the Sydney Film Festival (2018), and was an Academy qualifying film for the 2019 Academy Awards® Most recently On Hold was translated into Italian for its European live performance premiere in 2022. On Hold was archived for preservation in the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
Tall Poppy
in July 2021 Jake Directed the professional premiere of the musical Tall Poppy on a Tour of W.A. Jake was also a co-creator of the concept, Wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the music with Matthew Predny.
In Attesa
In 2021 Jake’s musical On Hold was translated into Italian. In 2022 it had its international premiere produced by Bologna-based theatre company Tweet Charity and directed by Stefano Bonsi
And Don’t Forget To Subscribe
This short film satire of the world of social media influencers was written by Damien Higginbotham and directed by Jake. It won multiple awards including Best International Director at the Portland Comedy Film Festival.
Flickerfest Trailer
2020
In 2020 Jake wrote script, lyrics, and co-wrote music for Flickerfest’s Grease inspired Trailer. Directed by Jake, this spoof starred Penny McNamee, Jake Speer, Paul McDermott
Did I Tell You ‘bout Jasper?
Jake wrote, directed and co-composed this short film satirising wealthy, north shore families and their uncompromising pride. Did I Tell You ‘Bout Jasper won the Audience Favourite at the WOW Film festival (2013) and was an official selection at the Byron Bay International Film Festival where Jake was nominated for Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year (2015).