Destin Daniel Cretton and R.J. "Daniel" Hanna | 2021 Nicholl Conversations
0Writer/director Destin Daniel Cretton dissects writing, notes and directing with R.J. "Daniel" Hanna who is a 2021 Nicholl Fellow for his script "Shelter Animal" (logline below).
"Shelter Animal": A fiery, female prison trustee working at the county animal shelter finds purpose rehabilitating an abused pit bull, but her attempts to rally employees and the broader community for shelter reform puts her own freedom at risk.
Here is a link to his referenced short film that his Nicholl script is based on: https://vimeo.com/rjdh/shelter
Maybe it was growing up in Arkansas as a Canadian, or the summers in rural Ireland with grandparents and extended family, but R.J. Daniel who goes by Daniel has always been drawn to out-of-place characters, unique environments, and the weird, beautiful rhythms of how people talk. As a writer/director, he explores these interests across a range of genres, while always keeping a focus on human issues and the complicated people living them, as well as the hope and humor they find in even the darkest circumstances. He recently directed the true-story feature film “Miss Virginia,” starring Emmy-winner Uzo Aduba, Matthew Modine, and Vanessa Williams. The film was listed as a New York Times and USA Today Must-See Fall Movie, won the Audience Award at The Naples Film Festival, and received a limited theatrical release, cable premiere on BET, and streaming deal with Netflix. Daniel also explores storytelling as an editor, with ten features under his belt, including horror film “What Lies Below,” which quickly became #1 on Netflix. In addition to being a Nicholl Finalist, he was a winner in the Slamdance, ScriptPipeline, and Screencraft competitions for his social-issue-horror script “They Live on Skid Row,” chronicling a teen girl’s struggle with homelessness via a rip-roaring zombie film. Daniel is currently in pre-production on a true-life inspirational sports movie (“Hard Miles”) and a provocative tech-horror indie (“Succubus”), both with exciting actor attachments he is not yet at liberty to discuss. He hopes to continue telling cinematic, character-driven stories long past the time any sane person would have retired. He lives on the east-side of L.A. with his excessively-vocal cat “Dottie.”
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Destin Daniel Cretton and R.J. "Daniel" Hanna | 2021 Nicholl Conversations
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