Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Night Night’s Niki Koss

Niki Koss is an award-winning actress and filmmaker whose mission as a storyteller is to create art that leaves a lasting and positive impact on the world.

As an actress, her past credits include projects like Famous in Love, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, and Dreamcatcher.

On the directing front, Niki made her directorial feature film debut with Night Night.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Niki about her multifaceted career, Night Night, and her production company K Factor Films.

Career

PC: How did you discover your passion for storytelling?
Niki: That’s a good question. I’ve always been a storyteller. I have a plethora of films that I directed when I was ten years old. They’re absolutely terrible. They’ll never see the light of day, but they exist. I’ve been acting since I was like five. Film has always been at the forefront of my life. It wasn’t until about seven years ago that I realized directing encompassed everything that I had been doing my whole life and everything I loved.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Niki: I have been heavily influenced by directors like [Martin] Scorsese, Wes Anderson, and [Quentin] Tarantino. They’re my top three. I feel like I take a little piece of each of them with me every time I direct something. I try not to copy them, but I definitely feel inspired by them. I’m influenced by their overall vision. Even if you go in and don’t know who directed the film, you’ll know who’s directing it based on the film—the way it looks and the way it feels. That’s always been my goal as a filmmaker.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success throughout your career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out to you?
Niki: Booking Famous in Love was a huge moment for me because I’d never been on TV before. I’d only done indie movies, so that was wild. I’ll never forget hearing the news. I was in the car and I was crying so hard that I couldn’t even breathe. I had to pull over. That was a huge, huge moment for me.

Then, being on the set of Night Night and directing it. I’d been in charge of large groups of people as a director before but not on a scale like this. We were in Texas shooting for a month. Everything was just on a larger sale. There was definitely a moment on one of my off days where I was sitting on the porch talking to my mom and it hit me. I cried again. I cry a lot during those moments.

Night Night

PC: Speaking of Night Night, could you tell us about the film and what audiences can expect?
Niki: It’s a psychological thriller about a woman who gets into an accident. She has something really traumatic happen to her and her recovery period is really intense. During that recovery period, she starts to question her sanity and doesn’t know if she’s seeing things or if it’s in her head or if someone’s messing with her. There are all sorts of twists and turns along the way. We’re on that journey with her, trying to figure it out.

PC: This is your directorial feature film debut. Did anything surprise you about the experience? What was the biggest takeaway from working on this project?
Niki: That’s a good question. There were lots of surprises. For my next one, I know the biggest lesson is that I need to put as much thought and care as possible into building my crew, team, and cast. I got really lucky on Night Night. It was a great team, but I can get micro-managey sometimes. I want to make sure that everything’s perfect. It’s hard for me to trust that the person I hired is going to do what I hired them to do and do a really good job. It’s about making sure that I pay super close attention in the pre-production phase to hire everyone that I know I’m going to have complete trust in so that I can step back and do what I need to do.

PC: You’ve directed television in the past. What’s that transition been like going from that medium now to the big screen?
Niki: I directed a web series. It was really different. It was a lower budget. There was a big difference there because I was wearing many more hats than I needed to be wearing. That was different. Television as a whole is so different from directing a film. Someone once told me this, and it’s true, “With television, you’re making a pizza that someone ordered. If they ordered a pineapple pizza, you’ve got to make that pineapple pizza. Maybe you could add a little extra salt if you want and give it some flavor, but you have to make them a pineapple pizza at the end of the day.” With film, you’re creating the pizza that you want to create. That’s really the biggest difference. It’s catering to someone else’s vision versus your own.

PC: Like you were saying earlier, you’re in a unique position where you’ve worked in front of the camera as well. How beneficial was it having that experience as an actress as you collaborated with this cast?
Niki: It was hugely beneficial. It allowed me to get on a level with the actors that I think a non-actor director might not be able to access as easily or as quickly. It allowed me to speak a language with them that really only we understood. I was able to use fewer words and they got it. We got to the point quickly. I was able to trust them as actors and give them the freedom they needed. If they said that they needed to sit in a closet for ten minutes before the scene, I’d be like, “We have to let them sit in that closet. I don’t care how much money it’s going to cost us. They’re asking for it for a reason!” It was important for me to trust their process and to be able to communicate with them in that way.

PC: This is a really diverse cast. You’ve got actors that are playing roles that are very different from what they’ve done in the past. You’ve got actors making their debut. How did you cater your directing style to each of those different groups?
Niki: That’s an awesome question. It’s so important as a director to know when you hire an actor that they’re taking the character now. It’s in their possession. You can help guide them as much as possible, but it’s their character to create and to really make their own. You have to help and guide them with whatever they need to do to make it their own. It’s like parenting in a way. I would say it’s trying to let them do whatever it is that they need to do to make it their own because you hired them for a reason. If they want help, they’ll ask for it.

PC: With this being your directorial feature film debut, is there a scene that you’re really excited for audiences to see?
Niki: These are such good questions. I haven’t been asked that yet. I would say the whole end sequence is really special. I’m super excited for people to see the last fifteen minutes—the whole culmination of everything and all the mysteries that are revealed.

PC: What do you hope audiences take away after they see it?
Niki: I really want people to be able to escape from their day-to-day lives for an hour and a half. I really tried with Night Night to create a world that was special, unique, different, and new. I want people to be able to sit down and delve into that world and lean into it. I want audiences to feel like they’re coming out of a dream when they finish.

PC: Besides this project, what’s next for you? What’s the next project that you’re going to direct?
Niki: I can’t say much, but I can say it’s a romantic comedy, which I’m really excited about. It’s my favorite genre. I love romantic comedies. I have a production company that I started this year called K Factor Films. We update our social media as much as we can when we’re about to release information about the latest projects. Follow K Factor Films and all the information will come out there as we’re able to release it!

PC: Speaking of your film company, how did that come to fruition? What’s the company’s mission and what types of stories resonate with you?
Niki: Thank you for asking that. The mission is to help propel the careers of filmmakers that are often overlooked for things that really have nothing to do with filmmaking, like gender, identity, race, and what have you. I’ve always felt like this industry gets bogged down with the minutiae of all that. That should be taken off the table and the art seen for what it is. We want to really help bridge that gap, especially for female filmmakers because I am one and I know what it’s like to be one—and it’s not easy. K Factor Films really wants to elevate and propel the careers of filmmakers within that arena. We want to make content that really helps people escape from the day-to-day. We want to entertain people and start conversations and debates with different opinions.

PC: Speaking of relevant themes, there are so many in Night Night. Was there one in particular that hit home for you?
Niki: Gaslighting. I’ve been in relationships in the past where the gaslighting element was extremely prevalent. I can relate to April’s journey throughout this film. It’s not just romantic relationships but all kinds of relationships in life. It’s not just limited to females. Everyone has been gaslit by someone in their life. That really did hit home for me. It’s one of the reasons I felt I gravitated towards the script. I’m excited for people to start talking about that and to hear what conversations ensue about it.

To keep up with Niki, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Night Night wherever you stream movies.