Known for Directing
Terence Nance (born February 10, 1982; Dallas, Texas) is an American filmmaker, writer, director, actor and musician. He is best known for his directing debut "An Oversimplification of Her Beauty" (2012), and as the creator of the avant-garde TV program "Random Acts of Flyness" (2018), which is produced by his production company MVMT and airs on HBO. Nance is in a relationship with Naima Ramos-Chapman. The two met while they interviewed him for Saint Heron, the creative agency owned by Solange Knowles. Nance was born in Dallas, Texas. He earned his MFA from New York University where he studied visual art. Nance's 2012 film "An Oversimplification of Her Beauty" incorporates an earlier short film, animation and an original score. It premiered in the Sundance Film Festival's New Frontier section in 2012 and was also screened as part of the 2012 New Directors/New Films Festival in New York. Scholar Terri Francis has described it as "...an experimental film...that recreates the unspoken space amid friendship and relationships". Starring Terence Nance himself and the girl with whom he is caught up in this difficult dance, the film shifts between reconstruction and reimagining using both animation and live action. The film was also featured at a screening as part of the Afrofuturist Film Festival at the New School on 3 May 2015. In August 2018, Nance's TV series "Random Acts of Flyness" debuted on HBO. In September 2018, Nance was announced as the director of the sequel of Space Jam, produced by Ryan Coogler. On July 16, 2019, it was announced that Nance left the project because he and "the studio/producers had different takes on the creative vision for Space Jam: A New Legacy", though he retained both screenwriting and executive producing credits. Nance also composes and performs music under the alias "Terence Etc.", composing some of the music for his "Random Acts of Flyness" series and releasing his debut EP "Things I Never Had" in January 2020. His debut full-length album "V O R T E X" was released on August 19, 2022 under the Brainfeeder label.
Born
February 10, 1982 (age 44)
Birthplace
Dallas, Texas, USA
Filmography
111 films, 10 shows


André 3000: New Blue Sun (Listening)
2023 · 1h 31m
country: United States
"I swear, I wanted to make a “visual album” but this is literally the way the wind blew me this time."
18 Black Girls and Boys Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and are thus Spiritual Machines: $9 in an Edition of $97 Quadrillion
18 Black Girls and Boys Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and are thus Spiritual Machines: $9 in an Edition of $97 Quadrillion
2020 · 1h
country: United States
18 Black Girls Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and are thus Spiritual Machines: $8 in an Edition of $97 Quadrillion
18 Black Girls Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and are thus Spiritual Machines: $8 in an Edition of $97 Quadrillion
2020 · 1h 9m
country: United States


Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia
2020 · 2h
country: United States
Chronicling the life of Lay'n Pipe, a 47 foot TopGun Cigarette speedboat, from its conception through the end of human civilization. It's not just a speedboat ride, it's a Miami adventure.
18 Black Boys Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and Are Thus Spiritual Machines: $7 in an Edition of $97 Quadrillion
18 Black Boys Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and Are Thus Spiritual Machines: $7 in an Edition of $97 Quadrillion
2019 · 49m
country: Unknown
Edited record of performance conducted at SFFilm; posted on Vimeo.


Guisado on Sunset
2019 · 4m
country: United States
Missed connection regret at that one late-night spot—the kind you keep playing back in your head but not quite ever remembering right, until it starts to look like something else.


Solange: When I Get Home
2019 · 41m
country: United States
In the three years since her seminal album "A Seat at the Table", Solange has broadened her artistic reach, expanding her work to museum installations, unconventional live performances, and striking videos. With her fourth album, "When I Get Home", the singer continues to push her vision forward with an exploration of roots and their lifelong influence. In Solange's case, that's the culturally rich Houston of her childhood. Some will know these references - candy paint, the late legend DJ Screw - via the city's mid-aughts hip-hop explosion, but through Solange's lens, these same touchstones are elevated to high art.


Kamasi Washington - As Told To G/D Thyself
2019 · 22m
country: Unknown
The cosmic journey of sacred youth, during which pain, pleasure, and sublimation are nonnegotiable.


White People Won't Save You
2018 · 32m
country: Unknown
An algorithmic, web-based mashup of white savior tropes and clips from popular cinema.
18 Black Boys Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and Are Thus Spiritual Machines: $6 in an Edition of $97 Quadrillion
18 Black Boys Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and Are Thus Spiritual Machines: $6 in an Edition of $97 Quadrillion
2017 · 42m
country: United States
The above is a performance during which I google the phrase "1 year old black boy" ascending in age to the age of 18. I allow Google's "popular searches" algorithm to predict what comes after the phrase and peruse the results based on what Google thinks I want to search for in a Black boy. The algorithm generates results based on the most popular searches so it can be theorized that the Black boys that the algorithm predicts are the Black boys we are searching for.
18 Black Girls Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and are thus Spiritual Machines: $5 in an Edition of $97 Quadrillion
18 Black Girls Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and are thus Spiritual Machines: $5 in an Edition of $97 Quadrillion
2017 · 56m
country: United States
The above is a performance during which I google the phrase "1 year old black boy" ascending in age to the age of 18. I allow Google's "popular searches" algorithm to predict what comes after the phrase and peruse the results based on what Google thinks I want to search for in a Black boy. The algorithm generates results based on the most popular searches so it can be theorized that the Black boys that the algorithm predicts are the Black boys we are searching for.


Jimi Could Have Fallen from the Sky
2017 · 7m
country: United States
This short is the unauthorized, heavily abridged, biographical, visual and supersonic moment about the fact that Johnny Allen Hendrix (aka Jimi Hendrix) knew how to skydive. Set in Seattle where Jimi was born and raised, the film wonders aloud about what this skill meant for the life he went on to lead. Why did he retreat to the sky so quickly before all of us were ready for him to go?


Nick Hakim - Bet She Looks Like You
2017 · 5m
country: United States
Music video for the Neo-soul singer, Nick Hakim.


They Charge for the Sun
2016 · 16m
country: United States
In a dystopian future where people live nocturnally to avoid the harmful rays of the sun, a young black girl unravels the lie that has kept her and her sister in the dark.


Univitellin
2016 · 15m
country: France
Marseille, today. Aminata works as a hairdresser in an Afro hairdressing salon, Badara works as mechanic. When they meet, their love story will change their lives.
18 Black Girls Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and are thus Spiritual Machines: $4 in an Edition of $97 Quadrillion
18 Black Girls Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and are thus Spiritual Machines: $4 in an Edition of $97 Quadrillion
2016 · 44m
country: Unknown
"is a performance during which I google the phrase '1 year old black girl' ascending in age to the age of 18. I allow Google's 'popular searches' algorithm to predict what comes after the phrase and peruse the results based on what Google thinks I want to search for in a Black girl. The algorithm generates results based on the most popular searches so it can be theorized that the Black girls that the algorithm predicts are the Black girls we are searching for." - Terence Nance (https://vimeo.com/177691039)


Swimming in Your Skin Again
2015 · 22m
country: United States
Drenched in the heat, spirit and landscape of South Florida, Swimming in Your Skin Again celebrates the spiritual feminine and coming of age. Guided by female inspirations we tour the ritual anchorages of life in and around Miami: the Catholic church, the swamp, the backyard, the water.


Blackout: John Burris Speaks
2015 · 2m
country: Unknown
American civil rights attorney John Burris lends his sonorous voice to "An Oversimplification of Her Beauty" director Terence Nance’s imaginative and moving (and brilliantly edited) anti-police-brutality video in support of the non-violent Blackout Black Friday protest.
18 Black Girls Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and are thus Spiritual Machines: $2 in an edition of $97 Quadrillion
18 Black Girls Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and are thus Spiritual Machines: $2 in an edition of $97 Quadrillion
2015 · 42m
country: Unknown
"is a performance during which I google the phrase "1 year old black girl" ascending in age to the age of 18. I allow Google's "popular searches" algorithm to predict what comes after the phrase and peruse the results based on what Google thinks I want to search for in a Black girl. The algorithm generates results based on the most popular searches so it can be theorized that the Black girls that the algorithm predicts are the Black girls we are searching for." - Terence Nance. (https://vimeo.com/122993949)


The Dig - You And I and You
2015 · 8m
country: United States
This hypnotically surreal dance film is set to a single by the psychedelic rock band the Dig.


The Triptych
2015 · 1h
country: United States
This documentary profiles contemporary artists Wangechi Mutu, Barron Claiborne, and Sanford Biggers. Each monologue is a reflection of their life experiences, letting the viewer discover how their observations have shaped the art they create.


Beyoncé - Their Fall Our All
2014 · 8m
country: United States
This dreamlike fusion of political thriller and science-fiction fantasia is set to original music by Beyoncé.


18 Black Boys Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and are Thus Spiritual Machines: $1 in an edition of $97 Quadrillion
2014 · 34m
country: Unknown
"It's a performance during which I google the phrase "1 year old black boy" ascending in age to the age of 18. I allow Google's "popular searches" algorithm to predict what comes after the phrase and peruse the results based on what Google thinks I want to search for in a Black boy. The algorithm generates results based on the most popular searches so it can be theorized that the Black boys that the algorithm predicts are the Black boys we are searching for." - Terence Nance


Moon Medicine - Moonrising
2014 · 7m
country: United States
Extra-celestial beings escape the vagabondary bound to their psyche on foot. Short film by Terence Nance, with music by Sanford Biggers’ concept band Moon Medicine who have been described as “a remedy for saddity, an anecdote for the overly analytic. A balm for the phases, a lunar liniment.”


Cody ChesnuTT - Till I Met Thee
2013 · 5m
country: Unknown
A short film produced for Cody ChesnuTT’s 2012 album "Landing on a Hundred".


Mélissa Laveaux - Postman
2013 · 4m
country: Unknown
The official music video for Mélissa Laveaux's 2013 single "Postman" (from the album Dying is a Wild Night).


Frenel
2013 · 5m
country: United States
A Short film about a contemporary milliner in NYC.


An Oversimplification of Her Beauty
2012 · 1h 35m
country: United States
A quixotic artist hypothesizes about why he feels bad when a mystery girl stands him up. The event prompts him to ask: what's the content of a momentary feeling? Is it the sum of your experiences? And perhaps more importantly, are your experiences the sum of you?
Everything Absolutely
Everything Absolutely
2012 · 11m
country: United States
Everything Absolutely follows a lady out on a date with a guy. A poster, parents, and pesto all somehow find its way into this epic & intimate journey.


Native Sun
2011 · 21m
country: Ghana
Mumin, a precocious young boy, makes the long trip to Accra from his home in Ghana’s rural northern region. He leaves having just experienced his mothers death, her last words to him a directive to travel to Accra and find the father he has never met. Along the journey he experiences Ghana as only a child can and in so doing expands our view of what the country is and what it will be.


Pharoahe Monch - Clap (One Day)
2011 · 10m
country: United States
Short film about a police raid gone horribly wrong, featuring music by Pharoahe Monch.


Blitz the Ambassador - Something to Believe
2010 · 8m
country: United States
Directed by Terence Nance, the film addresses the detachment we all battle, when faced with the the world's overwhelming issues. "It's hard to think about all the problems in the world without getting a little overwhelmed. So, a lot of times we just ignore things. I think Africa has suffered a lot because people choose to remain ignorant, rather than address the issues that are right in front of our faces," Blitz said.


How Would You Feel?
2010 · 1h 20m
country: United States
A look at the deep-seated roots of our feelings.


No Ward
2009 · 11m
country: United States
No Ward is a short documentary about the forced migration of New Orleans residents to cities in Texas. The film juxtaposes the migrations that occurred as a result of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Hurricane Gustav in 2008.
Exorcising Rejection
Exorcising Rejection
2008 · 8m
country: Unknown
A short film by Terence Nance made in a fine art context while he was studying visuals art.