Jeff Nichols (b. 1978) is a writer and director born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts, School of Filmmaking in 2001. In addition to Shotgun Stories, Nichols has written and directed six short films. Since graduating, Nichols has worked on several feature films including Gary Hawkins's, The Rough South of Larry Brown and Margaret Brown's Be Here to Love Me, A Film About Townes Van Zandt. Nichols currently lives in Austin, Texas. Shotgun Stories is his feature directorial debut.

There is no victory in revenge. This is an idea I chose to explore with Shotgun Stories, a film tracking a feud that erupts between two sets of half brothers following the death of their father. So often in literature, film, politics and society, revenge, and more importantly the execution of revenge, is considered success. Whether it's Edmund Dantes fulfilling his pledge to ruin Danglars in The Count of Monte Cristo or Hans Gruber falling to his death in Die Hard, the euphoric feeling we get as an audience watching the villain meet his or her comeuppance is undeniable. With Shotgun Stories, I wanted to work against this notion. I wanted revenge to be an awkward thing to exact and a cause not necessarily championed by the audience. Violence is an unusual task for these characters, just as it is for most people. Their anger and emotions are validated, but their reactions to those emotions are not precise. My hope is that Shotgun Stories gives an honest portrayal of normal, hard working people responding to the pain and heartbreak they find, and at times create, in their own lives.

We chose to shoot this film in 35mm in the anamorphic 2:35 aspect ratio. When I was fifteen I was fortunate enough to see a re-released print of Lawrence of Arabia in the theater. I'll never forget how the landscape helped define that story and the affect that had on me. I've wanted to tell stories in scope ever since. Southeast Arkansas, where our film was shot and where I grew up, is a place filled with breathtaking landscapes of cotton fields and farmland. I wanted audiences to see this place the same way I see it, in scope. Also, this landscape defines our characters. We find these people living in a slow burn South where most everyone sweats for their living. The towns and the people have, for the most part, been left to their own devices. This makes for characters that keep their thoughts and emotions close to their chests. They aren't always comfortable expressing themselves. Their words don't always tell the entire story.