Nik

NIKOLAS LIST Native EN/FR creative/content/copywriter I’m a ‘double’ native speaker English/French (C2 level in both) with a master’s degree in Communication from the University of Liège, another master’s in filmmaking (IAD filmschool), and more than 15 years experience as a bilingual writer in various fields. Here’s what I can offer : NATIVE SPEAKER, FR and EN — I was born in Cincinnati but moved to Belgium as a child and thus quickly became a perfect bilingual English-French. My entire life has been split between both cultures and I naturally have a C2 level in both languages (written and spoken). This cultural and lingual versatility has proven to be extremely useful for my copywriting clients and agencies I produced commercials for (see CV ‘Jump Cut Productions’). PROFESSIONAL CREATIVE WRITER — I wrote my first book (‘La Vallée des Rois’, published by Maelström Revolution, 2006) while completing my second master’s in filmmaking. Since then, I’ve completed 2 other books (with the same publisher) and freelanced as a bilingual writer for digital agencies such as Epic, Emakina, and MCI. For the last 5 years, since the release of my feature film ‘Tombville’, I’ve been teaching creative writing, screenwriting, and academic writing in both French and English to bachelor students at the SAE Institute. STORYTELLING AND ADVERTISING SKILLS — My first master’s in Communication gave me the tools to write, but filmmaking made me a storyteller. From 2007 to 2013, I had the opportunity to produce and direct advertisements for top agencies and companies such as Dexia Bank, Linsys, Doctors Without Borders, and Delta Lloyd (see CV). In my free time, I tour the world performing shows that blend spoken word, storytelling, and live poetry (trailer). These communication skills have also contributed to my success as a language teacher (4 years at Berlitz) and professor at the SAE institute. DIGITAL SKILLS - Back in 2007, freshly graduated from film school, I created Jump Cut Productions, a production company specialized in webcontent. It quickly appeared that several of our smaller clients also needed a website to embed the videos we were producing for them. So I bootstrapped my way through html, css, php, and wordpress training. In 2012, I built my own CMS by myself from scratch. A few years later, I wrote and self-produced ‘Tombville’ (2014) with a shoestring budget. I carried out the entire post-production alone on my laptop with the tools of the Adobe Creative Suite. The film subsequently toured the world in international festivals, gathering awards and critical acclaim. MOTIVATIONAL TEAM PLAYER — As a writer with a background in filmmaking, I possess both the introspective mindset of a writer, but also the social skills to coordinate a team and carry a project to the finish line. These leadership and management skills proved useful as Head of Department at the SAE Institute -), a position where I had a full-time schedule as a teacher, but also line-managed the entire staff, teachers, supervisors, and administration. A UNIQUE VOICE — Thinking out of the box is second nature to me. On her deathbed, my mother left me with these instructions: ‘Nikolas, remember the one cardinal sin: whatever you do in life, never be boring.’ That’s the advice I live by as a creative copywriter. n i k o l a s . l i s t @ g m a i l . c o m - Te l + 3 2 ( 0 - NIKOLAS LIST BACKGROUND Born in Cincinnati, USA. Moved to Belgium at the age of 7. Currently living in Brussels. Native speaker EnglishFrench (C2 in both languages) EDUCATION MASTER’S - Communication (2002, University of Liège) -+32 - Skype: niko_list NATIVE FR / EN CREATIVE/CONTENT/COPY WRITER EMPLOYMENT HISTORY For each one of these positions, I’d be happy to provide a list of references. 2018 > 2020 - HEAD OF FILM DEPARTMENT SAE INSTITUTE BRUSSELS From 2018 to 2020, I spearheaded the film department at the SAE Institute campus in Brussels. As Head of the Film Department, I taught creative writing, screenwriting, and academic writing for bachelor students and adults (certificate program); I line- This university degree involved journalism, cinema studies, and anthropology managed the teachers and staff; I also oversaw all the academic and administrative MASTER’S - Film directing and screenwriting (2006, IAD) The IAD is the top film school in Belgium. Out of more than 200 applicants at entrance, I was one of the 3 students selected to direct a short fiction as a graduation project. DEGREE - Visual Arts (2002, St-Luc Liège, promotion sociale) During my years at university, I completed a 3-year visual arts degree (evening classes) at St-Luc LIège Trainings in html, css, php and Adobe Creative Suite (2008 through 2011) After film school, I completed additional trainings to hone my digital skills (Cepegra, Belgium) LANGUAGES aspects of the department. During this period I continued to freelance as director and creative/content/copywriter for communication agencies (Epic, etc.) 2015 > 2018 - WRITING PROFESSOR (BILINGUAL) SAE INSTITUTE BRUSSELS Following the success of “Tombville”, the SAE Institute recruted me as a teacher for their film department. Thanks to my teaching skills, my reputation quickly caught the attention of management and enabled me to move up the hierarchy within the academic department. In 2016, I also co-launched an online dance school, Tap Dance World and produced all the videos myself. I also launched my blog, the Nikolas List Channel, to curate cutting-edge art and share musings. 2014 - “TOMBVILLE” FEATURE FILM, RAGES PRODUCTIONS My feature film “Tombville” was initially planned as a Canadian-Belgian coproduction. When the producer dropped out due to financial problems, I decided to make it on my own. I wrote, directected, and self-produced this film with a shoestring budget and a crew of volunteers. I completed the entire post producion on my laptop. The film premiered at the prestigious Gerardmer film festival in France and went on to be screened in more than ten international film • French: native speaker (C2) festivals around the world, gathering awards and critical praise • fluent in Portuguese 2007 > 2013 - HEAD OF MEDIA PRODUCTION basic Spanish understanding Upon graduatiing from filmschool and touring with my short film in • • • English: native speaker (C2) basic Flemish (currently taking classes) festivals around the world, I launched an advertisement agency, JUMP CUT DIGITAL SKILLS I’ve produced, directed, and completed award-winning films from scratch with only a shoestring budget and a laptop. I’ve written and illustrated books, produced music videos, clips, commercials for international agencies. I’ve built content management systems by hand, designed posters, Whatever and programmed knowledge I’m websites. missing complete a project, I’ll learn it online. JUMP CUT PRODUCTIONS - CREATIVE ADVERTISEMENT AGENCY to PRODUCTIONS, with the idea of producing online video content for emerging online platforms. This gave me the opportunity to produce and direct advertisements for clients such as Dexia, Doctors Without Borders, Linksys, Delta Lloyd, music videos, and promotional content for websites. 2002 > 2006 - AUTHOR, LANGUAGE TEACHER BERLITZ While attending film school, I wrote and illustrated my first book “LA VALLEE DES ROIS”, published by Maelström Editions in 2004. That collaboration lead to two other book projects, “L’EPOPEE DE GILGAMESH” (2008) and “LE PROPHETE” (2010). During that period, I also worked as a part-time language teacher at Berlitz to pay for my college tuition. n i k o l a s . l i s t @ g m a i l . c o m - Te l + 3 2 ( 0 -