Nathan Franklin(III)
- Actor
- Writer
- Composer
Since 2011 Nathan Franklin has been writing and performing comedy. In 2016 he played the lead in a theatrical production of a three-act comedy produced by Middle Tennessee-based Encore Theatre Company. After relocating to Portland the same year where he has been living since, he continued to be active in the local performing arts, contributing to ten-minute play festivals produced by the theater company Monkey with a Hat on as playwright, actor and director.
Since 2015 Nathan has also been following his number one passion: sketch comedy. The first sketch that he wrote and also performed in was featured in a show produced by the sketch comedy and improv collective Sketchy Nashville. From 2016-2017 he wrote for Sketch Machine, a house team based at the Portland improv house Curious Comedy Theater. In 2018 he fulfilled his lifelong dream to co-found his own troupe. He is a co-producer and writer-performer for Escape Reality. The troupe put on its first two shows in 2019 and in 2023 after a three-year hiatus performed their third show Fine Art on the stage of the historic Clinton Street Theater.
Additionally, Nathan has been involved with the Portland film community since 2019. He recently starred in the comedy film short Second Change Wings, an entry in the 2023 Portland 48 Hour Film Project that won an award for Best Use of Genre.
On a different note, Nathan is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who has released two albums. He has been able to transfer his musical abilities to his other passions. In a production of the Jim Leonard play Anatomy of Gray performed at The Twilight Theater in 2022, he played his own instrumentals in the guise of a "guitar-playing townsman." For Escape Reality, he wrote a musical parody and made significant musical contributions to a sketch about a high school production of a fictional musical called Fishwoman. He also composed the theme song as well as incidental music for Horror Show, an entry for the 2023 72 Hour Horror Film Contest in Portland that won multiple awards (including one for Best Soundtrack). The film is about a fake talk show, and Nathan acts in it as a guest.
Since 2015 Nathan has also been following his number one passion: sketch comedy. The first sketch that he wrote and also performed in was featured in a show produced by the sketch comedy and improv collective Sketchy Nashville. From 2016-2017 he wrote for Sketch Machine, a house team based at the Portland improv house Curious Comedy Theater. In 2018 he fulfilled his lifelong dream to co-found his own troupe. He is a co-producer and writer-performer for Escape Reality. The troupe put on its first two shows in 2019 and in 2023 after a three-year hiatus performed their third show Fine Art on the stage of the historic Clinton Street Theater.
Additionally, Nathan has been involved with the Portland film community since 2019. He recently starred in the comedy film short Second Change Wings, an entry in the 2023 Portland 48 Hour Film Project that won an award for Best Use of Genre.
On a different note, Nathan is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who has released two albums. He has been able to transfer his musical abilities to his other passions. In a production of the Jim Leonard play Anatomy of Gray performed at The Twilight Theater in 2022, he played his own instrumentals in the guise of a "guitar-playing townsman." For Escape Reality, he wrote a musical parody and made significant musical contributions to a sketch about a high school production of a fictional musical called Fishwoman. He also composed the theme song as well as incidental music for Horror Show, an entry for the 2023 72 Hour Horror Film Contest in Portland that won multiple awards (including one for Best Soundtrack). The film is about a fake talk show, and Nathan acts in it as a guest.