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Peter Nicks

He // Him // His

Documentary Filmmaker

Oakland, California

Photo of Peter Nicks.

Photo courtesy of the artist.

Peter Nicks is an Oakland, CA based filmmaker whose work ranges from documentary features and fiction narratives to digital storytelling projects. His last film The Waiting Room was released in 2012 to critical acclaim, being named by the San Francisco Film Critics Circle as the best documentary of 2012 and shortlisted for an Academy Award®. Nicks is now developing The Oakland Police Project, the second of a series of character-driven documentaries exploring the intersections of health care, criminal justice and education in Oakland, CA. Nicks was recently awarded the SFFS/KRF screenwriting grant and named a Film Independent Fellow to develop his first narrative feature Escaping Morgantown, loosely based on the year he spent in federal prison in the early 90s. He received his B.A. in English from Howard University and his Masters of Journalism from UC Berkeley. He lives in the Bay Area with his wife and two children.

Donor -This award is generously supported by The Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation.

This artist page was last updated on: 01.06.2025

Photo of Peter Nicks on location.

Director Peter Nicks on location, Untitled Oakland Police Project (in production).

Photo courtesy of the artist.

Still from film by Peter Nicks.

The Waiting Room by Peter Nicks, 2012.

Photo by Ken Light