Yes, Teeny is MY real last name.

It means “figgy” in Arabic, making it silly not just one but two languages. Nicole Teeny is the founder and owner of Teeny Motion Pictures. She is a queer Lebanese-American filmmaker, creating in scripted and non-scripted. This is pretty ironic, considering the community she grew up in prohibited everything from movies to jewelry. The church even held a movie/CD/book burning…but she didn’t even own anything “secular” to throw. Fast forward, and she’s flipped the script.

Yet, what remains unchanged is Nicole’s passion for stories with heart, vision, and intrigue. Some of the themes of her work are coming-of-age, love, friendship, identity, religion, LGBTQ+, and sports.

Nicole went to NYU Film School, and she’s directed and written projects that have been on Netflix, Paramount+, Sundance Channel, Kanopy, Good Docs, BET Africa, PlutoTV, Amazon Prime, and forthcoming on ESPN 30 for 30. They’ve also played at festivals like Slamdance, Venice Film Festival, Outfest, New Fest, Seattle International Film Festival, as well as in US Embassies, consulates, museums and festivals worldwide, and one even was featured in a university textbook.

She has gratitude for the organizations that have supported her work like the Tribeca Film Institute, LEF Moving Image, Berlin Film Festival’s Berlinale talents, PGA Create Lab, Breaking Through the Lens, If/Then, Big Sky, InsideOut, Cambridge Arts, Tacoma Arts, MIT Arts, and the United States Department’s Education & Cultural Affairs.

She loves collaborating so bop her an email and get the wheels turning!

Select SCRIPTED projects:

PERIOD, a short narrative film, writer/director, (teen comedy) just premiered on Paramout+ (also on BET, PlutoTv, and Prime global), part of an anthology on gender equality called In Bloom.
PUBLIC POOL, a short narrative script, writer/director, (drama) invited to the Berlin Film Festival’s short film lab and won a bunch of screenplay awards (see below)
Winner of the New South Young Playwrights Award.
THE DRAMZ, pilot director-for-hire, (dramedy) faux reality show pilot I was hired to direct for LIFETIME.

Select DOC projects:

BIBLE QUIZ, my first feature doc, winner of the Slamdance Grand Jury award (see more awards below), played on Netflix, theatrically nationwide, Sundance Chanel, Kanopy, and was selected for the US State Department’s “American Film Showcase.” Hollywood Reporter called it "instantly lovable,” the LA Times said it was “Smart, funny, and disarming,” and the San Francisco Bay Guardian said it was “a film that people will remember for years to come.”
UNITY MOSQUE, a short doc, is now on Good Docs, won “Best Direction” at the Toronto LGBTQ Film Festival, and extensive festival run including Outfest, Newest, InsideOut, Cleveland International Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Cucalorous, and others.
THE WRITER, a short doc exhibited at the Venice Film Festival and over 100 museums/consulates/galleries worldwide, featured in the MIT press textbook Objections, part of Harun Farouki’s Labor in A Single Shot.

what’S IN Post:

GIRL V HORSE, a memoir podcast series for ESPN 30 for 30, Picked up after being a finalist to the If/Then Tribeca Film Institute pitch.
BULLETPROOF STOCKINGS, an indie feature doc, about the world’s first all-female Hasidic rock band (supported by LEF, Cambridge Arts, Points North, Doc-a-chusettes Pitch winner, finalist at Fork Film and Chicken & Egg)
ARAB QUEER DOC (WIP), an indie doc, about Sarah Hegazi and others (supported by IDA, InsideOut re:Focus Grant, PGA Create, and Breaking Through The Lens.)

…and there are some exciting things being cooked up in development.

Pssst… check out branded projects, like COMMUNAL FUTURES, a branded doc series.

Bits and bobs:

Based in Brooklyn but also works locally in Los Angeles, Beirut, & Seattle.
Founder of Nasty Ribbons, a design company featured in BUST magazine, USA Today, Culture Trip & others.
Previously a set designer and graphic designer. Ask for portfolios.
Runs. Like a lot. Recently she ran 50-miles against horses for a series she’s making with ESPN 30 for 30.
Held local political office for two terms.
Performed, invented, and hand blew musical glass instruments with the MIT Glass Band
Officiated four weddings to date.
Former treasurer of the Hajji Baba Rug Club at the National Fine Arts Club.

RESUME or CURRICULUM VITAE available on request.

SELECT AWARDS & RESIDENCIES:

RECOGNITION FOR THE SARAH HEGAZI DOCUMENTARY
Work-in-Progress
2020 IDA (Independent Documentary Association) Enterprise Development Grant
InsideOut Re:Focus Grant
Breaking Through the Lens
PGA Create Lab

AWARDS FOR UNITY MOSQUE
Best Direction, LGBT Toronto Film Festival

FILM RECOGNITION FOR GIRL V HORSE
2020 Tribeca If/Then Pitch at Big Sky Film Festival

FILM RECOGNITION FOR BULLETPROOF STOCKINGS
2019 Winner at The Doc-a-chusetts Pitch at Salem Film Fest
LEF Moving Image grant
Cambridge art grants
Finalist at Fork Films
Finalist Chicken & Egg.

FILM AWARDS FOR BIBLE QUIZ
2014-2015 Selected as American Cultural Envoy/Film Ambassador – US State Department (American Film Showcase)
2013 Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Feature Documentary – Slamdance Film Festival2013
Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary – United Film Festival San Francisco2014
Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary – Big Muddy Film Festival2014
Silver Doc SpIFFY Award for Best Documentary – Spokane International Film Festival
2013 Local Audience Choice Award – Tacoma Film Festival
2014 Audience Award – Big Muddy Film Festival
2014 Most Promising Filmmaker – Spokane International Film Festival
2013 Emerging Filmmaker Award – Chagrin Documentary Film Festival

SCREENWRITING AWARDS FOR PUBLIC POOL (in development)
2016 Berlinale Talents Short Film Station – Berlin, Germany
2016 Phoenix Film Festival Short Script Winner
2016 CA Women’s Film Festival Short Script Winner
2016 Woods Hole Film Festival Short Script Finalist
2016 Bare Bones Film Festival Short Script Finalist
2016 All Sport Film Festival Short Script Finalist
2016 Screencraft Short Script Semi-Finalist

AWARD FOR SPECIAL REPORT: REAL ZOMBIES IN BROOKLYN
2011 Grand Jury Award – Zed Fest, Hollywood, CA

PLAYWRITING AWARDS:
2006 New South Young Playwrights Award (for “Queen of the Arctic Nile”) – Horizon Theatre

ARTIST AWARDS/GRANTS:
2016 LEF Moving Image Pre-Production Grant
2016 Cambridge Arts
2015 MIT Council for the Arts
2014 MIT Council for the Arts
2011 Artist Trust GAP Award/Grant
2011 Tacoma Arts Commission Grant

OTHER AWARDS:
Spoonflower Fabric Design Winner
Cinereach Reach Film Fellowship Finalist
NYU Tisch School of the Arts Trustee Scholarship
Miss Pierce County Scholarship

ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS & RESIDENCIES:
2016 Berlinale Talents (selected for the short film station)
2016 Art Kibbutz Residency
2015 Berlinale Talents
2015 Brushcreek Foundation for the Arts Residency
2014 Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Residency