Nicholas Barton

Nicholas Dean Barton is an American filmmaker. He is known as the writer/director of the feature films Death Alley, Deadman Standing/Hyde Park and Wichita as well as the series creator of Queens of Camo.A hands-on filmmaker, Barton often immerses himself into several different production departments, and often plays a hand-on role in several components of his films.Most notably, his film credits include director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer and occasionally even stepping onto the screen in character roles, which he self-proclaims are his favorite to work with.

Born in Great Bend, Kansas on November 12, 1983, Nicholas is the first son of Richard and Lisa Barton (both Kansas natives).He has one brother, Jared, who is a Professor in the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare faculty.

In high school, Barton won 4 state titles in speech and debate (Dramatic Interpretation twice, Original Oratory, Informative Speaking) before later breaking into Quarterfinals and Semifinals in 3 events at the National Tournament.

Barton went on to become one of the most decorated Collegiate Speech competitors of his era at Kansas State University (KSU), where he achieve multiple national final rounds including Duo, Dramatic, and Prose Interpretations.Nicholas is also one of the first competitors in KSU Forensics history to qualify all six events all four years of competition to every national tournament.

At Kansas State University, he studied philosophy with an emphasis in analytical philosophy, logic and ethics.In graduate school, he focused on the discipline of Rhetoric and Theatre.

Following college, Barton moved to Wichita, Kansas where, in 2009, he began his career in filmmaking as an associate producer for the Country Music Television series All Jacked Up starring C. Thomas Howell.From there, Barton created Prestigious Films and worked on music videos and commercials all over the country.As a television producer, he worked on several television series including Hoarders, Extreme Couponing, Doomsday Preppers, HBO's Boxing After Dark, The Road to the Final Four, The Big Life with Kirstie Alley, My Crazy Obsession.

Barton has directed over 50 music videos in genres ranging from jazz to blues, country to rock, folk, alternative, hip hop, and classical.Bands include Soulicit, Livy High, Another Lost Year, Siva Addiction, and Uche and the Crash.Solo artists include Jazz legends Jerry Hahn, Bill Caldwell, and Pat Kelley, country artists Logan Mize, Blake Aaron Guthrie, Jenny Wood, Drifter, Tim Henry, Chase Stites, Aaron Tippin, Justin Moore, and Mike Love.In 2012, the video "One Night Rodeo" by Siva Addiction was awarded the Midwest Rock Award's Music Video of the Year and in 2013, Another Lost Year's "War on the Inside" won the Octane Radio's new artist video of the year.

Barton's third full length feature, DEATH ALLEYtells the true story of the infamous Dalton Gang's Final Ride into Coffeyville, KS, as well as the splintered member's redevelopment and finally the genesis of the deadly Wild Bunch, as known as the Doolin-Dalton Gang. The film was shot just prior to the Coronavirus Epidemic in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.Principle photography lasted 18 days and included Lawrence, KS, Sedgwick, KS and the Wild West Film Set of Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita, KS.To complete the film, another 3 days of filming at a Cave System in the Ozarks of Southwest Missouri, as well as a Victorian Flash Forward Scene, are slated for production in August of 2020.

The film's post-production scaled 4 countries - the US, Italy, Mexico, and Bangladesh.Primary editing was executed at Barton's Film Studio in Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

The film is slated for release in late 2020.

Deadman Standing is Barton's second full-length feature film Western. Originally produced under the title, Hyde Park, Deadman Standing was acquired by Grindstone Pictures, a division of Lionsgate Entertainment and released internationally in December of 2018.

The film is loosely based on the true story of one of the most violent gunfights in the Wild West.In Hyde Park, a small division of what is present day Newton, KS in South Central Kansas (about 30 miles North of Wichita), Deadman Standing recounts the story of James Riley, a 19-year-old boy dying of tuberculosis.

The film was shot at the historic Eaves Movie Ranch just outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico.The film runs 94 minutes and stars C. Thomas Howell, Luke Arnold, Viva Bianca, M. C. Gainey, Quinn Lord, and Richard Riehle.Principal photography was 24 days.The film was shot on a set of RED EPIC DRAGON Cameras with Zeiss Ultra Speed Prime Lenses.

The movie's post production took over 4 months and was primarily completed within Barton's studio in metro Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas.

In 2013, Barton assembled a micro-crew under his production company Prestigious Films and started working on his first feature film Wichita, a dark western-thriller set along the backdrop of the 1882 cattle drives.Barton served as the film's writer, director, producer, and co-editor.Principle photography took 24 days.The film was shot on a RED MX Scarlet 4k camera.

After raising a modest budget through commercial advertising projects including bi-weekly TV Commercials for Walmart, the crew was able to finish the film and screen it on April 4th, 2014 at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Wichita for an audience of just over 1100.The film, produced on an independent budget of $100,000, was later acquired and distributed by Indican Pictures - the distribution company behind the film Boondock Saints.

The film premiered at over 30 theatres around the Midwest, has since been distributed to US and international success to predominantly high praises.The film currently sits at a 8.1 out of 10 rating on IMDb.

As a lifelong outdoorsman, Barton also created Queens of Camo, a hunting television series that highlights the fastest growing hunting demographic in the world - women.With pro-staff in 12 different countries known as Queens, the huntresses showcase outdoors adventures ranging from Deer, turkey, wild pigs, waterfowl, and fishing.The show puts a spotlight on conservation work and the ethical way to treat and care for wildlife.

In 2014, Barton moved to Los Angeles County, California to work as a film editor for PopSugar and TV Guide Networks in 2014 where he worked on promos for shows like The Biggest Loser, MasterChef, and handled all of their post-production for the food, fitness, beauty, as well as all branded content.During that time, he lived in Woodland Hills, CA located in the San Fernando Valley just north of Malibu. There, he met Alyson Lauver, a Cardiac Specialty nurse at UCLA Medical Center.The two now live in Bedford, Texas (a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth) where they opened a small production company, and continually work on the development, pre-production, and post-production of several upcoming feature films and new TV Series.

Barton is a lifelong environmentalist and animal rights activist, who focuses a lot of his personal time to gardening, working with his labrador retrievers and a backyard full of chickens.