Born and raised in northern Minnesota, Nicholas Bell has been fascinated since a young age with the art of storytelling. Sneak-reading V.C. Andrews and Stephen King in elementary school, his eventual pursuits in literature were joined by a passion for the cinema after experiencing Sigourney Weaver in Ridley Scott's classic, Alien (1979). Nicholas attended Hamline University in St. Paul, MN, where he earned departmental honors for his research on Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1959 adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer. Moving to Los Angeles in 2011, he began writing for Ioncinema, where he now serves as Chief Film Critic, providing coverage on weekly theatrical releases, including interviews, and awards items. He provides annual coverage on major film festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Sundance, and the Toronto International Film Festival, among others.

His cinematic interests revolve around representations of race, gender, and LGBTQ+ themes in mainstream and independent film. His screenplay Personal Trainer is being developed to shoot in Serbia in 2022, starring Fanny Ardant, Haaz Sleiman, Adam Davenport and Omar Sharif Jr., directed by Stephen Riscica. Nicholas Bell resides in Los Angeles, California with his husband of thirteen years and their Sphynx cat.