Nicholas Ortiz

The son of Ivette Cruz and Antonio Ortiz, Nicholas Ortiz was born in the early morning hours of April 14th 1983. Raised in the Marble Hill Projects, in the Bronx, it was noted early on that he was quite special. While far from the best student in school, teachers often stated that Nicholas was in fact, quite intelligent, with an imagination that knew no bounds. This imagination was encouraged by his family, Nick would draw, create and develop (at the risk of property damage) whatever happened to pop into his head. Nicholas' reading level was far above normal as his father, who worked in Building Maintenance, would find discarded books and bring them home for his son to read. Little did Antonio know that Nick, at age 8, was reading books written by such prestigious authors like Arthur C. Clark. Movies were another passion of Nicholas', he found himself drawn to strong archetypal heroes like Indiana Jones and Luke Skywalker. As a self professes "fat kid", these characters helped Nick imagine that he was the 'hero" in his world of the Bronx, protecting his loved ones (mostly his younger brother, Julian Justin Ortiz) and stopping the "bad guys". Nicholas would devour films, often visiting the local video store and renting movies in bundles. He would memorize lines, moments, even musical scores. By the time he reached high school, Nicholas had decided to become a filmmaker, often trying to employ friends and family to be in them, with little to no success of even finishing them. In fact it wasn't till well after high school that Nicholas finally managed to get a film "almost done" his fan film tribute to the DC character, Batman. Another short film, "The Last Entry" about a zombie killer and the world he lives in, further galvanized his dedication. Oddly enough, it would take the Reccession of 2009, where upon Nicholas lost his job, that he truly threw himself into the world of Cinema. The resulting product, "Little Red Riding Hood" premiered at an event held at Tribeca Cinemas, to much praise.