What filmmaker as well as musician Dan Covert built his creative career
"Nothing's going to happen on its own," Dan says. Dan. "The fastest way to establish your own career is to keep making stuff. If you're just doing many tasks for friends who make things in order to remain busy as a filmmaker."
It's an attitude that has led Dan through a career, and has earned him a myriad of accolades, including AFI, SXSW, and the obvious Staff Picks. " made our careers," Dan tells Dan. "That is a bit insane, but the truth is that it's real. We don't have an crowd for this stuff. We bought cameras and started learning to make items."
A few days following the release of his debut full-length film " Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life," which won the Audience Award at this year's SXSW and we had the chance to speak about the film with Dan about his process of creating and his creative north stars. Look over an excerpt from the conversation above and also listen to the entire conversation.
Your first job was as an artist. What were the steps you took to get you from there to the stage?
Dan: We started an enterprise in 1996. It was originally the graphic design business that then transformed into a motion graphics company and then an production company. The process is long. Along the way we designed shorts. Many of these were staff Picked to wear .
Then we started to play around and learning about what our voice was, both in a professional sense and as directors. And then I hit 40 and thought to myself, "I'm going to make films one day." It was then that I realized, "Maybe I'm not going to make films until I get started." So I began searching for stories, and this film was born.
16 years can be an extended period of time to create products in this field. What do you do to keep it going?
Dan Dan: It's genuinely enjoyable to do this kind of job. Prior to recently I wasn't thinking, "Oh, there's going be a huge blast-up when my work changes and I'm going to the Oscars." I'm not thinking about that issue. I'm just thinking "Am I having fun right now? Are I enjoying the ride?"
Because once a project it has been released to the general public, it's impossible to regulate how people will react to it. This is like asking "Did I create the greatest product I could? Have I spent time those I admire and admire? Are we trying to remain honest and authentic?" I'm always the many cookware on the stove kind of person. I run a business. I am a commercial director. I've been making this feature film. It's been quite successful for me in my practice of art. It's about slowly just doing these things that I enjoy as well as saying "We'll explore the possibilities."
In contrast, I'm not fascinated by the " where they where they part because it could cause you to die. At the end of the day, who cares whether you're well-known or prosperous? It's unlikely to be an issue when you're 80.
What's your creative nord star?
Dan Dan: We are constantly refining this, but the issue really lies with the storytelling. Craft and visual art. These are broad terms but they have a lot of value. Similar to "Can you create a story?" A lot of times people come with an unfinished idea that we, as storytellers are currently making the story more interesting.
The idea of commercials and art are opposite, but it's not to the extent that they are. The emphasis is on emotion and expressing the emotion through stunning cinematography. We all possess our distinctive voice. But the stuff that really keeps me smiling is story telling and character.
How can you collaborate with your brand, without jeopardizing your vision for your brand?
Dan When I first started I believed it was like "Oh they're hiring me to perform the tasks they require." But as time passed on I came to realize "No I'm actually being hired for help and I know the things I'm doing." So it was an enormous shift to figure out what their needs were as well as what their vision was. This is still a crucial aspect, but then the more and more I've climbed as an actor, I've realized that people are coming to you with a personal voice, to sort out all the issues and say, "What you guys need to do will be this."
Do you have any other brands that you're still hoping to collaborate with?
Dan The reason I say that is challenging because I do not have any interest in that kind of stuff. It's a matter of "Is it an enjoyable and interesting undertaking?" A few of the projects that were the most boring I've had to accomplish have now become some of the most fascinating work. I produced a film about an historian of type at Syracuse It's an Staff Pick video we did. The story is about a man who lived in a basement, and was able to discover this font and then Pentagram transformed it into the symbol for Syracuse University. This guy is amazing. I'd love to talk to people like him.
Anyone would like to be employed in Nike and any of the other fantastic brands. It's a lot of fun However, I enjoy finding interesting stories that are unique and also the joy of telling these stories on stage.
I've never had the chance to be an director. It was such a great feeling to me as a filmmaker that more than 300,000 people came in the space only a couple of days watch the movie we made. The feeling is, "Oh, my God." What do I mean? We didn't even make it as a film. The film was made for the client's project. I had only a slight edit when I spotted this crowd.
Dress Code continues for a very long time. What keeps your from stepping out of the dress code?
Dan Dan: It's that it's the only platform where all creators are able to see what we've done. A majority of this involves short films. We're self financing in the sense of putting up these small test balloons. Then, others who are creators take a look. They are often awe-inspiring. Someone from an advertising agency might call to say something like "Hey We came across this particular thing. Could you handle the commercial campaign for us?" It's like a one to one. If we're putting work out this way, all the right people have seen it, and are raising it up by giving us a platform.
Where do you look for an inspiration?
Dan The greatest motivation for my work via the art of. Actually, I don't go through tons of video clips nowadays. It's exhausting and I'm tempted to copy certain aspects. I look for methods to take things out of the norm or read feature documentaries for commercials. I also explore frames and visual-based techniques.
What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
Dan The quote of Steve Martin where he says, "Be so good that they can't be able to avoid you." I've always been amazed at that. It's similar to the way most people seek an easy way to create things and then they know it's finished. For me, it's more just about slowly investing the time and effort into making the basis of your work, and getting it to the point where someone will find your work.
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