Nowak grew up in the Twin Cities where he attended the University of Minnesota, earning a double-major in Film History and English Literature (super-nerdy, I know). From there, he landed at the highly regarded Fallon Minneapolis, working on major projects with highly-regarded brands. After four years, Nowak left the agency world to direct full-time and landed at Green Dot Films. After a few years with Green Dot, he joined Argyle Brothers and eventually co-founded 8th Street.

As an award-winning commercial director, Nowak has worked with highly regarded agencies including Chiat Day, Crispin-Porter, mono, Mother, Fallon, and BBDO NY. Amongst the highlighted brands are Nissan, Microsoft, M&Ms, Burger King, Stella Artois, Bethesda, Lee Jeans, Good Magazine, and Fallout 3.

Nowak’s short film, County State USA: Sweet Corn premiered at the Internationally renowned festival, Clerrmont-Ferrand in France. Additional screenings include Newport, Krakow, and Shorts Shorts in Tokyo. www.CountyStateUSA.tv

Past short films and documentaries have screened at Sundance, SXSW, and a slew of other international festivals. Additionally, his work as a writer/director has been featured on MTV, IFC, PBS, The Sundance Channel, and Funny or Die.

Nowak lives in Venice Beach, California with his wife, two kids, two dogs, cat, and, I think that’s it. He gets way too much attention for urban cycling the streets of LA, something he hopes will soon become commonplace. 

This headshot experiment may be a terrible idea, but Nowak enjoys taking risks…