Nicholas “Naiem” Bouier is an award-winning filmmaker and educator with 15+ years of entertainment industry experience. He’s created work across mediums & genres directing both dramatic and comedic fiction, documentary, sketch, music videos, web series, and branded content.
In his work he seeks to tell stories about the global Black and BIPOC experience; with special interest in how urban planning, class, spirituality, and familial structures impact our lives. Moving forward he's interested in exploring narratives set primarily in the Midwest and Rust Belt, especially in his hometown of Detroit, MI.
He’s been mentored by Academy Award nominee Meg LeFauve (Inside Out) and Academy Award winner Taika Waititi (JoJo Rabbit); and worked with National Book Award winner Charles Yu (Interior Chinatown, Westworld, Legion), Pat Charles (Black Lightning, Bones), Issa Rae (Insecure), and John Lee (Wonder Showzen).
He’s an alum of Morehouse College, The American Film Institute Conservatory – where he studied under Rob Spera (Criminal Minds), Andy Wolk (The Sopranos), Brian Dannelly (Saved, Queer as Folk), and Jonathan Lynn (My Cousin Vinny, Clue); and The Groundlings Sunday Company.
He’s been selected for labs through Film Independent, Sony Television, and NBC/Universal.
As an educator, he’s taught courses through Sundance Collab, The University of New Orleans, and currently serves as an adjunct professor at The College for Creative Studies in Detroit.
Bouier is currently developing pitches for television and his debut feature project “The Book of Earnestine” which follows Earnestine — an aging, faith-driven woman in Detroit — who unearths a mysterious water source in the vacant lot neighboring her home. The emergence of the miracle oasis threatens her with potential displacement, igniting a battle between community salvation and corporate greed with Payton — a local real estate developer vying for both the property and Earnestine’s daughter. The flame is stoked when her daughter, Cora, grows increasingly concerned about her mother’s mental state. These opposing forces pull Earnestine in drastically different directions, determining both the future of her community and spirituality. “The Book of Earnestine” is a narrative film designed to explore predatory property speculation, community agency, landscapes of memory, and spirituality.
Most recently, Bouier worked as a Story Editor on the Hulu series Interior Chinatown, was selected as a Yes And... Laughter Lab Fellow, and is a member of the Writer’s Guild of America – West.
He splits time between Los Angeles and Detroit.