Nicholas Barton (filmmaker)

Barton was born in Great Bend, Kansas on November 12, 1983,[5] to Richard and Lisa Barton.[6] 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 of the most decorated Collegiate Speech competitors of his era at Kansas State University (KSU), where he had multiple 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 and ethics. In graduate school, he focused primarily on Rhetoric and Theatre.[7]

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.

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[8] 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.[9]

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 is DEATH ALLEY and tells the true story of the Dalton Gang's Final Ride into Coffeyville, KS. The film was shot just prior to the Coronavirus Epidemic in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. Principle photography last 18 days and the film is currently in post-production at Barton's Studio in Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The film is slated for release in late 2020.

Hyde Park is Barton's second full-length feature film Western.[10] Based on the true story of one of the most violent gunfights in the Wild West, Hyde Park tells the story of James Riley, a 19-year-old boy dying of tuberculosis. The film was acquired and released under the International Title of "Deadman Standing" by Grindstone Pictures, a division of Lionsgate Entertainment in late 2018. 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 and the post production was done at Barton's studio in metro Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas.

In 2013, Barton assembled a crew and started working on his first feature film Wichita, a western-thriller set along the backdrop of the 1882 cattle drives.[11] The film's budget was raised through commercial advertising projects that the crew did and was produced on an independent budget of $50,000. The film premiered at over 30 cinema theatres around the Midwest,[12] and has since been distributed to US and international success.

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.