BIO
Nick Keene is an director, producer, actor, editor and designer born in NYC in 1973. Son of Christopher Keene, General Director of New York City Opera, and singer Sara Keene, as a child he was exposed to some of the great classical artists of the time: Tennessee Williams, Philip Glass, Gian Carlo Menotti, and others. He started acting professionally at the age of 10 as the lead in Fidelio, Off-Broadway at the Network Theater. He attended Trinity School, Vassar College and, then, moved on to study Acting/Directing at Circle in the Square in New York City (with Jackie Brookes, John Stix, Moni and Mina Yakim, Alan Langdon, Terry Hayden, Lynne Meadows, and many more); eventually playing Dylan Thomas in A Child's Christmas in Wales at Circle on the Broadway stage. He directed and produced Heart of a Dog, in conjunction with Frank Galati of (Steppenwolfe Theater/Chicago) in 1995 at The Harold Clurman. He worked consistently in the theater for the next 10 years in many projects including Prometheus in Prometheus Bound an the Angel Orensanz, Eddie in HurlyBurly at the National Shakespeare Company, and Paul in Warriors at Culture Project/45 Bleeker. In 2003, he stepped into the world of Branded Content/Production and formed The Insanity Corporation with a team of advertising veterans, where they worked with the likes of Lewis Black, 50 Cent, Spike Lee, GE, NASA, Vitamin Water, Deutsch Bank, and a long, global client list. Recently, he edited the feature narrative Ode to Joy, edited and post-produced on 2 documentary feature projects, Power of Pearl and Camp 72, developed, directed and edited the pilot of The Livery, an episodic comedy, and worked on narrative and documentary material for WholeFoods and Whole Planet Foundation. He also designed the ground-breaking Gyre Trilogy and 5210 for Ariel Dance Theater at the Long Center for the Performing Art, in Austin, TX, in collaboration with Barco/High End Systems and Cyburbia. He has lectured, spoken, and/or taught at such institutions as NYU/New School, the United Nations, Lincoln Center, Columbia University and The University of Texas.