Daniel is an independent filmmaker whose comedy and documentary short films explore subjects like adult circumcision, cinephilia, and pet euthanasia. Since graduating from SFU's film program in 2013, he has worked professionally in Vancouver as an editor, videographer, actor, and now filmmaker for Lush North America. His editing work has been selected by TIFF, VIFF, CBC, Crazy 8s, Telus Storyhive, IGN, Vimeo Staff Picks, Booooooom.com, and has received two Leo Award nominations.
Two cinephile best friends travel to a remote filming location from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" to create a shot-for-shot remake of the iconic sequence that inspired their friendship.
We had the opportunity to show your film during our 2016 festival - tell us a bit about the journey of bringing this film to life
This short film came about while myself, Will Ross, and Devan Scott were filming the feature-length documentary, We Three Heathens (2015). As we were documenting our 5-week walk along the famous pilgrimage route, the Camino de Santiago, we couldn't resist also visiting the iconic shooting location of the climactic sequence from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, which we knew was just 80km outside of Burgos, Spain. For fun, we hoped to recreate the scene using ourselves as stand-ins, and camera angles matched as closely as possible to the original production from 50 years earlier. This location was of extra special importance, not only for being from one of Will and Devan's most beloved films, but because its sequence was what initially sparked their friendship through online discourse some 7 years earlier, and culminated in their production company, Sad Hill Media (named after the fictional Sad Hill Cemetery). So I knew that besides simply filming the recreation, this would be a fruitful opportunity to document a true holy grail moment in Will and Devan’s lives and friendship. What resulted was indeed (I believe) wonderfully absurd, profound, and sacred.
What was your biggest victory with this project?
Besides our very affectionate audience response at Cinema Spectacular in 2016, our biggest delight was having the film be prominently featured in the 2017 documentary, Sad Hill Unearthed, which included interviews with Ennio Morricone, Clint Eastwood, and other original crew from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. (The film is available to watch on Netflix if you haven't' seen it. We'd recommend!)
What was your hardest lesson learned?
Due to having to pack light for pilgrimage travel, we only had a compact tripod that could raise to about 4-5 feet in height. This meant that to achieve the eye level angles from the original film, we had to crouch and squat below frame for long periods of time - often resulting in severe and painful leg cramping. When travelling to remote locations, one should always bring the right gear.
Where do you look for inspiration?
For documentary, I most often find inspiration in real life characters who I am wholly endeared by and feel the need to candidly capture and relate to an audience in an entertaining and (hopefully) deeply sympathetic way.
What's a favourite piece of Canadian media for you right now?
A legitimate recommendation (and also a legitimately biased plug) is the nuts and bolts oriented film podcast, Film Formally, hosted by Will Ross and Devan Scott, which features conversations and topics with many local independent filmmakers, as well as quite a few eminent film professionals. It is always very thoughtful, rigorous, and informative.
What are you working on now? And what's next for you?
My most recent self-financed short film, A New Leash On Life (2020), is about a magical talking dog named Basketball who must convince his owner not to put him down for his ill temper. The film is finishing up its festival run, having now screened at over 25 festivals including Vancouver International FF '20, Edmonton International FF '20, and DC Shorts '20, and will hopefully be available online in the coming months! For my next short film, I will either be making a $0 solo labour of love on green screen with stolen stock footage, or a large crew production with fancy movie gear and stunts (depending on financing 🤞).
Youtube - Vimeo
RSVP on Facebook and join us April 18th 2021 for Choice Cuts to hang out at Sad Hill and catch up with Daniel during our Q+A!