Nils Taylor graduated with an MFA in film production from Chapman University. During that time he made several short films. These shorts along with his thesis film, a 20-minute short called The Fighting Kind (2009), went on to win several film festivals worldwide.

His first feature film, Lights (2015), was a low budget sci-fi thriller set in the barren desert of Death Valley. On Lights, Taylor not only handled the directing duties, but took on several post-production roles to ensure the film could be completed on the producer's modest budget. This experience was the forerunner to Taylor's second feature Quarries (2017), which was co-written and co-produced with Nicole Marie Johnson. Quarries is a modern thriller about a group of woman on a hiking expedition who are attacked by deranged hunters.

Taylor also currently teaches film production at Saddleback College southern California.