Nico Casavecchia Joins the Directors of 1stAveMachine

Nico Casavecchia Joins the Directors of 1stAveMachine

1stAveMachine announced the addition of director, Nico Casavecchia. The Argentina native adds a distinct but complimentary voice to the diverse group of directors. "I see a lot of opportunity for experimentation at 1stAveMachine. I've followed their work for a long time, so it's amazing to now be working together," said Casavecchia.

Having begun his career as both a graphic designer and illustrator, then animator and finally director, Nico's work shows an embracement of mixed mediums and of playing with expectation. Nico has the ability to turn cliche on it's head in his work, where Vampires are sweet and a Sweet Sixteen is turned edgy. In the short, Buildings and Vampires, co-directed by Sebastian Baptista, a child narrates the tale of a young vampire who loses his teeth after naively biting buildings.

Beautifully shot, the hand-crafted art direction and shallow focus is integrated with a subtle 2D animation. The careful mix and constraint of different mediums adds to the nostalgia evoked by the narration. In contrast to the adorable Buildings and Vampires, Nico's Slamdance 16 celebrates the 16th year of Slamdance with a striking film about maturity.

As a girl turns into a woman, Casavacchia shows the simultaniously celebratory, awkward and cathartic in-between stages of growing into one's adult self, with music and camera movement that suggests tribal ritual and transformation. Nico was inspired by the "coming-of-age" he sees for independent film today, with new methods of film distribution and an unparalleled ability for young directors to create work and have their work seen.

With his own desire to start work on feature length films, Nico is inspired by possibilities for the near future. "I've started writing a feature piece. I've been excited about some ideas for a while. Now is the time to make it happen."

Nico is currently working on an eight-camera, experimental video for musician Niamh Farrell, to be released this December.

1st Avenue Machine