In 2012, he made his directorial debut with his ambitious historical short film, Where the Mangos Grow, which premiered at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival and for which he was honored with the prestigious Rising Star Award at the Canada International Film Festival in Vancouver. In 2014, Nelson directed his second short film, Sea Odyssey. The film premiered at the 2014 Savannah Film Festival and was honored with the Jury Award for "Best U.S. Short" at the Roseville International Film Festival in Sacramento. The film will continue it's tour in 2015. Nelson is currently in development for his next short film, Gilad (2015), and his feature length directorial debut Finders (2015). In addition, Nelson is currently collaborating with Oscar-winning producer John Carls (Rango, Where the Wild Things Are) in the development of an animated feature film.