“Evercast saved my movie, and that’s the truth.”

Nicholas Mihm is a documentary director, producer, and editor who has worked with brands like Spotify, Discover, Under Armour, and Pampers. Last year, he directed, produced, and edited his feature documentary debut, In the Dark of the Valley—a film that chronicles the appalling and deadly effects of the radioactive Santa Susana Field Lab on the surrounding communities. 

Long hidden from the public, the lab used to host hundreds of nuclear and rocket test building structures and had at least four known major accidents between 1959 and 1969, including at least one partial meltdown. Jared Blumenfeld, the head of the California Environmental Protection Agency, told the LA Times in 2020 that the lab is “one of the most toxic sites in the United States by any kind of definition.” In the Dark of the Valley is told from the perspective of activist Melissa Bumstead who discovered the lab after a diagnosis of a rare and aggressive type of leukemia left her four-year-old daughter fighting for her life. 

Needless to say, this is a very important story that deserves a big platform. In late 2021 it was acquired by MSNBC and aired in November. It can be viewed on NBC.com and on the NBC app. 

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Nicholas to discuss his career, the film, and the current status of the Santa Susana Field Lab.

The following has been condensed and edited for clarity.

What initially drew you to filmmaking? Was there a film, TV show, or documentary that started it all? One that made you more than just a fan.

I’ve been a huge film nerd since I was probably like three or four. The first movies I remember watching were the 1989 Batman with Michael Keaton and Jurassic Park—those are probably my favorite movies of all time. I took an interest in the medium at an early age but didn’t take it seriously until high school. I took a film class my sophomore year, and my teacher said to the class that we were never going to watch movies the same way again and he was absolutely right. 

Were you initially more drawn to directing or editing?

Directing—it’s a fascinating profession. I’ve watched all of Martin Scorsese’s films, I’ve watched all of Spielberg’s films. Since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated by how they’ve conducted themselves behind the camera, always watching the behind the scenes stuff on DVDs. I’d build these little sets in my house, but I wasn’t shooting anything. I just liked the look of the cameras and cords spread around the house. I’m sure my mom didn’t like that very much.

Do you have a favorite underrated Scorsese movie? Something beyond the obvious Raging Bull or Goodfellas?

I was raised on Goodfellas, which is a weird movie to be raised on—my dad showed me it a ton. But if I’m honest, my favorite Scorsese film, which I don’t think is a very popular opinion, is Shutter Island—the horror film he made with Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo. It’s so amazing, such a beautiful film. I love horror and mystery.

What were some of your first big breaks that helped get you to where you are?

I mean, I don’t know if I’ve even gotten there yet. I got a lot of help and was very fortunate to be able to do unpaid internships when I first moved to LA. I was trying to PA on sets and just get whatever experience I could. I worked at a company that encouraged me to make these short documentaries for their brand. It was following semi-celebrities, interesting artists, or even kids and then doing short little docs on them. That sparked it for me. It got me working with a camera in my hand. Through making these little docs on influencers, I picked up the format really easily. I knew how to form a story around those things.

Could you tell me when you first heard about the Santa Susana Field Lab and what your initial reactions were?

Around 2018, my producing partners at the time, Derek Smith and his brother Brandon, and I were doing short documentary branded work. We found a listing for Change.org and they needed a two-minute piece of Santa Susana and this mom named Melissa Bumstead. It was only supposed to be a one day shoot. We met Melissa, a couple of the other moms, and advocate Denise Duffield, and were just blown away by the scale of the story they were telling. A nuclear site outside of Los Angeles that was potentially causing harm to the community around it. We quickly realized a two-minute branded video wouldn’t do this justice, so talked to Change.org and they gave us some more leeway. We ended up making a seven-minute short doc on Melissa and Denise but realized that this was still not nearly enough. There was so much that we were leaving out and so many other other families we were leaving out. So after the Change.org video came out, we told them we wanted to produce an independent documentary on Santa Susana and Change.org gave us the go ahead.

We then approached Melissa and asked if [the stakeholders] wanted to make a feature-length film on this. We thought there was an important story to tell, and she thankfully agreed. So from 2018 to 2021, we interviewed her and several other families in the community.

When did you officially finish it?

I think we finished by March 2021. Obviously the pandemic halted a lot of jobs. We were all sequesting ourselves during 2020 and that gave us a chance to edit all the footage we had and by the time 2021 came around we had a final product that we were bringing to festivals.

How do you emotionally handle something so heavy over such a long period of time?

I think it’s perspective. It’s very tough, you’re dealing with hours and hours of footage of kids in chemo, kids running around the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. So it is really sad and really hard. A couple of these kids are not with us anymore. But you have to put it in perspective that whatever you’re going through making this movie is not even close to what these families are going through. A lot of reminding ourselves of that. It not only puts it into perspective for you but also reminds you that you’re doing important work that has actual stakes involved.