Stacey Nation
Director – LA Based
Commercial | Branded Content | Narrative
Growing up in a small town far from either influential American coast, Stacey Nation discovered the impact of storytelling early. Nightly news brought accounts from distant cities while library books delivered triumphant and tragic tales of the human story.
Stacey's directorial debut, The Wagon, a stark, poetic black-and-white film told entirely without dialogue, screened across the country and earned seven festival awards, including Best Woman Filmmaker at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards. Set against a desolate Midwestern landscape, the film illustrated her instinct for telling a story using the pure language of visuals. Its cinematography, by Brant Hadfield, received a 2020 Mid-America Regional Emmy nomination.
Her second short, The Return, was shot on 35mm in her rural hometown and delved further into similar narratives shaped by blighted areas and family drama.
Over the past decade, Stacey has led large-scale productions as a first assistant director for projects involving Disney, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Studios, NBC, HBO Max, and national brands including L'Oréal and Hyundai. Her directing work includes campaigns for Peyton Manning Children's Hospital, PrettyLitter, and the Saint Louis Zoo.
With experience spanning more than 200 productions, Stacey’s years at the operational center of production have taught her where delays and overruns begin, and how creative decisions affect schedules and budgets. She has a particular affinity for period films, visually driven narratives, and working with young actors.