Terence Nance
Terence Nance was born in Dallas, Texas in what was then referred to as the State-Thomas community. Nance learned personhood there. Nance’s first feature film, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in 2013. In 2014, he was named a Guggenheim Fellow.
In the summer of 2018, Terence’s Peabody award-winning television series Random Acts of Flyness debuted on HBO to great critical acclaim, and was renewed for a second season by the network. The New York Times hailed the show as “a striking dream vision of race” and “hypnotic, transporting and uncategorizable” adding that “it’s trying to disrupt and redisrupt your perceptions so that, finally, you can see.” In the fall of 2018, it was announced that Nance was tapped to write and direct Space Jam 2, starring Lebron James.
Additional film work includes Swimming in Your Skin Again and Univitillen, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and the 2016 New York Film Festival, respectively. In 2017, Nance premiered a performance piece, 18 Black Boys Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and are Thus Spiritual Machines at Sundance. Nance is currently at work on healing, curiosity, and interdimensionality, and resides in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
About the Artist
Terence Nance was born in Dallas, Texas in what was then referred to as the State-Thomas community. Nance’s first feature film, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically soon after. The film featured music from Flying Lotus and was Co-Executive Produced by Jay-Z and dream hampton.
In the summer of 2018, Terence’s Peabody award-winning television series Random Acts of Flyness debuted on HBO to great critical acclaim, and was renewed for a second season by the network. The New York Times hailed the show as “hypnotic, transporting and uncategorizable” In the fall of 2018, it was announced that Nance was tapped to write and direct Space Jam 2, starring Lebron James.
Terence has been active making music for a decade scoring all of his own films and TV series and working with several groundbreaking musicians in the process. Featured collaborators on his recently released THINGS I NEVER HAD EP are the psychedelic chanteur Nick Hakim, the incomparable harpist Brandee Younger, and of course the space gospel minister Nelson Bandela.
Additional film work includes “Swimming in Your Skin Again” and “Univitillen”. Nance premiered a performance piece, 18 Black Boys Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and are Thus Spiritual Machines at Sundance.
(The above is reposted from http://terencenance.com/)
The Ummah Chroma (“community of color”), a filmmaking collaborative teaming Nancewith Bradford Young, Jenn Nkiru, Marc Thomas and Kamasi Washington, debuted As Told To G/D Thyself at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. The film’s exploration of divinity through the aesthetics of blackness exemplifies a practice inspired by the jazz ensemble, channeling black musicality to collectively advance black cinematic language.
SELECT WORKS
Director
Space Jam 2 (coming 2021)
As Told to G/D Thyself (2018) (directed with Jenn Nkiru, Marc Thomas, Kamasi Washington, Bradford Young; collectively known as the Ummah Chroma)
195 Lewis – webseries (2018)
Random Acts of Flyness (TV Series) (2018)
Univitillen (2018)
Guisado on Sunset (2017)
Jimi Could Have Fallen From the Sky (2017)
They Charge for the Sun (2016)
You and I and You (2015)
So Young So Pretty So White (2015 ) – documentary, co-directed with Chanelle Aponte Pearson
Moonrising (2014)
Blackout: John Burris Speaks (2014)
Swimming in Your Skin Again (2014)
The Triptych (2013)
Triggers (2013)
Postman (2013)
Till I Met Thee (2013)
Native Sun (2013)
Frenel (2013)
An Oversimplification of Her Beauty (2012)
How Would You Feel? (2010)
No Ward (2009)
Producer
Installations
Select Interviews
"Episode 42: Terence Nance, ‘Random Acts of Flyness.’” OnWriting, January 15, 2021. https://www.wgaeast.org/onwriting/terence-nance-random-acts-of-flyness/
“Bonues Episode: Directors Terence Nance (Random Acts of Flyness) & Malik Vitthal (Body Cam).” Talk Easy, June 27, 2020. https://talkeasypod.com/artist/terene-nance-malik-vitthal/
Dry, Jude. "‘Random Acts of Flyness’: Terence Nance Makes Avant-Garde TV Entertaining, With a Little Help From Jon Hamm." IndieWire, 4 August 2018. https://www.indiewire.com/2018/08/random-acts-of-flyness-terence-nance-jon-hamm-hbo-1201990866/
Five by Five Project (2017) - https://visitseattle.org/tv/categories/project-five-by-five/
“How to allow your subconscious to efficiently make a movie: Terence Nance at TEDxBrooklyn.” TEDx Talks, February 9, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9voSO-1-axU&feature=youtu.be
Reviews
Narcisse, Evan. "‘Random Acts of Flyness’ Doesn’t Give a F–k If White People Get It." Rolling Stone Magazine, Rolling Stone, 7 September 2018. https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/random-acts-of-flyness-719221/
Otterson, Joe. "‘Random Acts of Flyness’ Renewed for Season 2 at HBO." Variety, 20 August 2018. https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/random-acts-of-flyness-renewed-season-2-hbo-1202910149/
Desta, Yohana. "Terrence Nance's Random Acts of Flyness Is a Black Wonderland." Vanity Fair, HWD, August 3, 2018.
Nussbaum, Emily. "The Raw Trip of 'Random Acts of Flyness.'" The New Yorker, 27 August 2018.
Ugwu, Reggie. "Is America Ready for the Mind of Terence Nance?" The New York Times, 26 July 2018,
Black Radical Imagination. Dominica, 2015.
Rapold, Nicolas. "Young Love, the Unrequited Type ‘An Oversimplification of Her Beauty,’ by Terence Nance." The New York Times, 25 April 2013. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/movies/an-oversimplification-of-her-beauty-by-terence-nance.html?mtrref=www.google.com.
