Author and Screenwriter
NICK KUNZE
ABOUT ME
Ever since he declared he wanted to be a writer at the age of three (before he could actually, you know, write), Nick has built his life around the written word. From humble beginnings writing Choose Your Own Adventure books for his classmates, to Camp Goblin, his debut novel at 13, a loving tribute (read: ripoff) of the Lord of the Rings series, writing has always been a part of who Nick is.
After receiving a Creative Writing degree from UCLA, where he won the Excellence in Creative Writing Award, he’s made a living as a working writer. He’s written everything from insurance SEO articles, Snapchat fiction for lovelorn tweens, nationally broadcast television commercials and is currently a copywriter for PepsiCo’s internal advertising agency. He even had a brief, squirm-inducing stint as a ghost writer for OnlyFans models.
But that’s just his day job. He’s written six original feature screenplays, two produced short films, dozens of short stories, a book of connected novellas and is currently looking for representation for his debut novel. He’s had fiction published in Ghost City Review, Toronto Journal, Angel City Review, Moonnday Mag and The Brussels Review. His short films have screened at festivals such as the Chelsea Film Festival and the Hollyshorts Film Festival, and his screenwriting has received accolades from the Nichols Fellowship, the Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition and The Black List.
He likes to write about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. About odd jobs. About loneliness and friendship, anxiety and growth. He writes funny stories about real sadness. He plays with genre without ever leaving his character-focused interests. His writing doesn’t have too much sex or violence, but he swears he’s not a prude.
Interests outside of writing? Reading (duh), movies (kind of duh), playing basketball (less duh), food (if one of the three things you need to stay alive counts as an ‘interest’). He writes reviews for every book he reads on Goodreads, and even has one fan on the app, a stranger who likes all his reviews.
Nick’s debut novel THE BIG ONE is the culmination of a decade of living in Los Angeles and a lifetime love of writing and reading. It will remain the best novel he’s ever written until he writes another, better one.
Excerpts are available upon request.
The Big One
Novel
How do you choose a path forward when you can’t imagine the future?
How do you find happiness in a world that feels broken?
The Big One is a speculative fiction novel (word count: 78,000) set in an alternate version of Los Angeles that has been devastated by "The Big One"—the predicted San Andreas Fault earthquake. But this is not a novel about surviving an earthquake. It’s about how to keep living after one. Born from climate anxiety, The Big One is readable, funny and propulsive without sacrificing pathos.
Picking up six months after the earthquake, The Big One charts a year in the life of 25-year old Beau. He’s lost, anxious and barely scraping by financially. He’s thinking about writing a screenplay, but can’t quite seem to start. He’s driven by a moral code, although it only gets him in trouble. Along with his two best friends, a hardworking film producer’s assistant and a reformed survivalist who has turned to drugs in the aftermath of the earthquake, Beau must navigate the emotional damage of the quake and the stresses of becoming an adult in a world that seems on the edge of collapse.
The Big One provides a wide-ranging view of this rearranged Los Angeles and the oddballs who remain in its ruins. The wealthy elite of the Hollywood Hills use a gondola to reach their homes. There’s a trendy homeless encampment in Echo Park. The Shake Shake Bad Bad is the newest TikTok dance craze. It’s a world of information overload, endless bad news and constant climate crises, all bandaged over by the fleeting glamor of social media and the quick fix of a cold beer.
The Big One is a hangout comedy set in a recovering disaster zone. It’s a mid-20s coming-of-age story. It’s a sometimes-judgmental love letter to Los Angeles. It’s a novel about how we distract ourselves from a world that feels hostile, and how friendship might be the only thing that can save us from despair.
It has the absurdity and quick dialogue of Patrick DeWitt. The humor and humanity of Kevin Wilson. A setting and heart worthy of a George Saunders’ story. It’s the Gen-Z Jesus’ Son.
The Big One is coming. Are you prepared?
Prose
01
A college coke dealer falls in love with one of his clients.​​​​​​
02
The owner of a hotel where a famous musician died reckons with her hotel’s legacy and how it profits from the star’s death after a visit from the musician’s sister.
04
The Object Of
- Ghost City Review
A young man questions the strength of his love while at “The Museum of Broken Relationships” in Mexico City.​
03
Two adult babysitters form a relationship while caring for other people’s kids.
05
GOOD SAMARITAN
- Moonday Mag (upcoming)
A man has a surreal encounter with a solicitor outside a grocery store.
SHORT FILMS
Beer Before Liquor
Broad Humor Film Festival
In one intimate and charming conversation, two long-term friends struggle to redefine their relationship after an unexpected hook-up.
Cutter
Chelsea Film Festival, Hollyshorts Film Festival
An aspiring hairdresser runs an Instagram business cutting hair on a boat. However, a special request from a client will force her to fight for her life.
Feature
Scripts
Here are loglines for my completed and in-progress feature scripts. Please reach out if you’d like to read anything.
Feature
Good Mourning
​Awards: 9/10 script on the front page of The Black List, Top 20% Script Academy Awards Nicholl Fellowship, Top 20% Script Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition
A recently orphaned teenager travels the coast of California with a charismatic, mysterious man, attending funerals as a professional mourner. Think LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE meets WEDDING CRASHERS.
Feature
Fatties
Three overweight high schoolers deal with the end of their football careers while trying to find dates for a school dance. Think SUPERBAD meets PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER.
Feature
The Product Launch
In a near-future where automation has decimated the working class, two unemployed petty criminals try to steal the prototype from a tech billionaire's latest product launch. Think FARGO meets THE NICE GUYS.
Feature
Backslide
Awards: Academy Award Nicholl Fellowship Quarterfinalist
The clone of a reclusive, aging rockstar moves into his creator’s Hollywood mansion, and must discover the dark secrets in his creator’s past. Think EX MACHINA meets SUNSET BLVD.
Feature
The Last First Date
A pair of exes are accidentally paired in a weekend-long, AI-run first date experience designed to make the users fall in love. Think PALM SPRINGS meets ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND.
Feature
The Last Supper
A family is reunited for a final meal before their mother commits assisted suicide. Think THE FAREWELL meets LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE