Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Diaz.
Hi Daniel, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Ever since I was little, I’ve had a passion for drawing and arts. I would spend hours sketching, coloring, or taking pictures with our small family camera. My family was always impressed with how much talent I had, and I always knew it was what I would do for the rest of my life. When I got into High-School, my passion for Photography and Film sparked. I spent 4 years watching every movie by Christopher Nolan I could find and all the great directors I liked. I looked up youtube videos on how to use a camera, what “ISO” meant, and how to use it. I enrolled in every art class in school. I was lucky enough to have parents that supported me and bought me an iPhone 12 at the time, which I used to film video after video, trying to mimic and learn from real directors.
The colors and cinematography of music videos always interested me the most, so I focused on learning how to shoot like them. In my senior year of high school, I got together with a group of friends in my video production class and made a series called “February 14th”. I was the director. I got to write and even act in it. To this day, it is the thing I’m most proud to have been a part of. After that, I worked until I had saved enough to buy my dream camera. It was a Black Magic 4k! Little me would probably cry if he knew we have it now. But I’m excited for the things I’ll get to create with it and what God has in store for me.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve been incredibly blessed with family and friends who have always supported me (especially my parents). But there have been a few struggles along the way. When I was 13, I moved countries to come to Austin from Mexico City. I had to leave my school and everyone I loved behind to start a new life here. And it was hard seeing everyone was still together back at home. I thought I wouldn’t make new friends here or that the opportunities I was hoping for would never come. Two years into our life here, Covid hit, and my parents decided to separate shortly after that, making my situation feel even more lonely and isolated than ever before. Fortunately, God has healed me and blessed me unimaginably since then, and I can look back and see his favor in everything I’ve done. I can now see this was his plan for my life from the beginning, and I wouldn’t trade anything that happened; all of those things built me into the person I am today.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a Filmmaker and Photographer; I shoot mostly music videos and short films. I’ve always loved the cinematography. I’m passionate about using colors in my shots and making them look almost like paintings. I believe that’s what sets me apart from other creators. In my free time, I love to draw or paint. It’s my favorite thing to do apart from the film. The thing I’ve worked on that I’m most proud of is directing and acting in a mini-series with my friends that we named February 14th.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
I have always considered myself a lucky person. Throughout my life, I’ve always seen God turn things around for me, and even when I felt like things were turning out for the worst, good things would always come from a trial. And opportunities have stumbled upon the life that has blessed me in supernatural ways.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vrtvfilm.wixsite.com/february-14
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniel_ddiaz/
