Brittani Nichols (born June 20, 1988)[1] is an American producer, actress, comedian, and writer.[2] In 2016, Nichols wrote, produced, and starred in the film Suicide Kale, which won the Audience Award for Best U.S. Dramatic Feature at 2016 Outfest. She has written for the television programs A Black Lady Sketch Show, Take My Wife, Strangers, and Drop the Mic.[3] Nichols is a writer and producer for Abbott Elementary and won the Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series award at the 54th NAACP Image Awards for the episode "Student Transfer".[4][5] As part of the producing team of Abbott Elementary, Nichols was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2023.[6]

Brittani Nichols
Born
NationalityAmerican
EducationYale University (BA)
Occupation(s)Actor, writer, producer
Years active2012–present
Notable workSuicide Kale (2016)

Career edit

Television and film edit

Nichols moved to Los Angeles after college and developed the web series Words With Girls (2012), which she later rewrote as a full-length pilot that was produced by Issa Rae and Deniese Davis's initiative ColorCreative.tv.[7][8][9] The series centered a group of queer twenty-something roommates in LA and starred Nichols, Corbin Reid, Hannah Hart, Alex Sturman, and Lauren Neal.[9] In 2016, Nichols wrote, produced, and starred in Suicide Kale, a dark comedy with an all queer-woman cast.[10] Nichols stated in an interview that she set out to make a lesbian movie that "wasn’t about coming out, sleeping with a man, or a character death at the end".[11] Both Words with Girls and Suicide Kale draw on Nichols' own experiences as a lesbian, and she has stated repeatedly in interviews that she is committed to increasing LGBTQ and African-American representation in media.[12] Suicide Kale won the Audience Award for Best U.S. Dramatic Feature at Outfest.[3]

She has appeared in several television programs including A Black Lady Sketch Show, Take My Wife, and Transparent.[13][10] Nichols was a writer for season one of the HBO series A Black Lady Sketch Show.[14] She has also written for Strangers, Drop the Mic, and Take My Wife.[15] She served as Consulting Producer for The Circle and Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness.

In 2020, it was announced that Nichols would produce a dramedy, Toothbrush, for Quibi through ColorCreative; however Quibi went out of business before the show was created.[16][17]

She is a writer and producer for the ABC comedy Abbott Elementary and is represented by CAA.[18][19][20]

Other work edit

In 2016, she released a five-track EP, Brittani Nichols Likes You.[2] Nichols previously co-hosted two podcasts, Brand New Podcast with Ariana Lenarsky, and Hamilton the Podcast with Khalehla Rixon.[21] Nichols also is Writers Guild of America West Captain.[22]

Personal life edit

Nichols was born in Chicago.[23] After attending Thornwood High School, she attended Yale University, where she played on the women's basketball team and women's rugby team.[24]

She is gay and genderqueer.[25] She supported Hugo Soto-Martinez and Eunisses Hernandez during the 2022 Los Angeles elections.[26][27]

Filmography edit

Acting edit

Year Title Role Notes
2012 Words with Girls Brittani 5 episodes
2013 Unicorn Plan-It Random Sleeper Episode: "Across the YOUniverse"
2015 Transparent Nicol 3 episodes
2016 Suicide Kale Jasmine Rawlings Also writer
2016 The Fat One Reese Episode: "Not Hungry"
2017 Rad Lands Farmer Knox Episode: "Big"
2018 Take My Wife Bethani 2 episodes
2019 A Black Lady Sketch Show Barbecue Daddy #2 / Ex 2 episodes

Writer edit

Year Title Notes
2012 Words with Girls 6 episodes
2015 The Xperiment 26 episodes
2016 Suicide Kale Also actress
2017 Drop the Mic 6 episodes
2018 Take My Wife 5 episodes
2018 Strangers Episode: "First Skate"
2019 A Black Lady Sketch Show 6 episodes
2022 Abbott Elementary 2 episodes

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Yale". Yale. Archived from the original on 2019-04-11. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  2. ^ a b "Brittani Nichols Likes You And She's Proving It With Her New EP". Autostraddle. 2016-12-14. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  3. ^ a b "Outfest Award Winners Revealed as Andrew Ahn's 'Spa Night' Takes Grand Jury Prize". The Hollywood Reporter. 17 July 2016. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  4. ^ "'Abbott Elementary' Writer Brittani Nichols On What To Expect From Tonight's Episode". HuffPost. 2022-10-12. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  5. ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (2023-02-24). "NAACP Image Awards: 'Abbott Elementary,' 'Atlanta,' 'Better Call Saul' Among Night Four's Non-Televised Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  6. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2023-07-12). "'Abbott Elementary' Writer-Producer's Reaction To Nomination Spotlights Somber Reality Of Emmy Celebration Amid WGA Strike". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  7. ^ "Words With Girls: Brittani Nichols is on a Mission with New Pilot". Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  8. ^ "Brittani Nichols - 2007-08 - Women's Basketball". Yale University. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  9. ^ a b Bernard, Riese (2014-09-23). ""Words With Girls" Episode One Recap: Pilot This Pilot Into Your Heart This Minute". Autostraddle. Archived from the original on 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  10. ^ a b Nelson, Carrie (2016-10-21). "'Suicide Kale' Is a Hilarious Film About Queerness and Suicidal Feelings". Vice. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  11. ^ Brown, Keah (2016-10-15). "Lunch with a Side of 'Suicide Kale'". Digital Fashion Magazine | Free Fashion Magazine | Fashion Magazine Online. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  12. ^ "Q&A: The "Suicide Kale" Cast on Making Film More Inclusive". 2016-10-03. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  13. ^ "Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher on making 'Take My Wife' season 2". The Daily Dot. 2018-06-08. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  14. ^ "Mini Q+A with Brittani Nichols". GOLD Comedy. 2019-03-11. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  15. ^ Harris, Lynn (2019-03-12). "Pro tip from Brittani Nichols: Say no". GOLD Comedy. Archived from the original on 2019-03-18. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  16. ^ Otterson, Joe (2020-09-14). "Issa Rae's ColorCreative to Develop Dramedy Series 'Toothbrush' With Brittani Nichols at Quibi (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 2020-09-15. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  17. ^ "My worst moment: 'Abbott Elementary' writer Brittani Nichols wishes she knew about the spit bucket". Chicago Tribune. 2023-03-07. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  18. ^ "Heartthrob B. Nichols on Writing for Abbott Elementary and the Quest for More Black Queer Stories". Autostraddle. 2022-03-22. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  19. ^ Hailu, Selome (2022-11-11). "'Abbott Elementary' Writer Brittani Nichols Signs With CAA (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  20. ^ "'Abbott Elementary' writer on Jacob's crisis, finally letting Sheryl Lee Ralph sing". EW.com. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  21. ^ "18 LGBTQ women in entertainment to celebrate this Women's History Month". GLAAD. 2018-03-22. Archived from the original on 2018-04-27. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  22. ^ Rosenbloom, Alli (2023-05-02). "Brittani Nichols, 'Abbott Elementary' writer and WGA captain, says studios are 'running over the workers of this industry'". CNN. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  23. ^ "Comedy Crush: Everything Brittani Nichols Touches Turns to Hilarious". Autostraddle. 2014-09-22. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  24. ^ "Yale". Yale. Archived from the original on 2019-04-11. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  25. ^ "Words With Girls: Brittani Nichols is on a Mission with New Pilot". Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  26. ^ @BisHilarious (April 19, 2022). "Eunisses is the shit. A community organizer with policy experience who still lives in the neighborhood she grew up in. She has seen the effects of gentrification and over-policing firsthand. And she grew up in a union household. Couldn't design a better candidate" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  27. ^ @BisHilarious (February 20, 2022). "I'm hosting a fundraiser for Measure J architect @EunissesH & labor organizer @HugoForCD13 Monday at 7 pm. If you wanna hop on, DM me! You can also DONATE NOW! We gotta defeat the incumbents who together make up an evil sentient jumbo Jenga set" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

External links edit