For many of us, middle school is laced (think Arsenic) with memories of boys smelling suffocating-so like Axe, losing sleep over what Simple Plan lyric to put as your AIM away message, being fed alive to prepubescent wolves during passing periods, ‘grinding’, in a not so dimly-lit cafeteria, to the one and only patron saint of middle school dances, Mr. Lil Jon himself, and countless hours spent in Abercrombie, Hot Topic, and Limited Too channeling ones inner Lizzie McGuire. However, for Daniel Fox, current University of Texas film studies senior, middle school marked the initial, pivotal point in discovering both his aptitude and enthusiasm for filmmaking.
Flashback to 2007: a 13 year old Daniel sits in math class wearing his everyday outfit for the past 3 years- a baseball cap, button-down Hawaiian shirt, and jeans. It’s Wednesday, March 14th, which just so happens, for all you non-Math geeks out there, to be Pi Day. Daniel has just shown his very first movie, a short film portraying a teenage boy tormented and haunted by both pi and pie, to a now chuckling and grinning classroom, and although he does not fully realize it at the time, this film would mark the beginning of a lifetime devoted to storytelling, entertaining, and ultimately, creating.
Movies have, for as long as Daniel can remember, played a crucial role in his upbringing, so it is no wonder they still hold such a central focus in his life and work. When asked about the different influences on cultivating his passion, Daniel reminisces on Friday night dinner and movie nights. “We’d usually end up arguing”, Daniel says, “looking through all these pirated movies my mom had brought back from China, for at least an hour before finally deciding on one to watch.” Despite their sibling bickers, Daniel remembers it “always being about togetherness.” These memories of movie nights, trips to Blockbusters, and the VHS in the crawl space under the stairs he and his friends would hideaway in, make the process of filmmaking one that is extremely close to home. A natural knack.
A crucial aspect to any good story is the characters through whom it’s told. Daniel, a natural entertainer and a people’s person, finds his relationships and the relationship between his life and himself absolutely necessary to his work. He talks about the consistent qualities of the human, and that although individualistic in person, “people as a whole are unchanging, so the more you can understand them the stronger your ability to get to the heart of storytelling.” It’s all about the human experience. Having a background in both acting and directing, Daniel harnesses the capability to understand the process of character building and character portrayal from both ends, because as he states, “in acting you have to find the spine of a character, but in writing, you must define that spine.” Upon initial interaction with Daniel, it’s ever-apparent that he understands this. He has a way to get inside your head and spark an effortlessly easy and natural conversation, to close the gap between one’s reluctance to open up and his desire to foster meaningful relationships. People, especially those in his life, are not only a primary source of inspiration, but immensely influential to his call to share his movies with an audience, to create this world to which we are able to escape. When asked about his purpose Daniel simply stated, “I just like telling stories, stories that maybe will change the world, or maybe make someone laugh or cry, but media reaches everyone, and that audience and potential of influence is incredible.”
Time has passed since 2007, but the same sentiments still hold true. While many of his peers are spending their textbook money on keg-stands, practicing a mac and cheese enriched daily diet, avoiding the puke-laden stairwells on Friday mornings, and generally still just figuring out this whole life thing, Daniel, although just beginning his career as a filmmaker, already has incredibly illustrious accomplishments to be proud of. Currently juggling the final cuts and nationwide premier of his short film Marine Grill, preparing his thesis film, and organizing a national film festival debut that will showcase other student’s works, Daniel is making a name for himself and an impact on his industry. “Grounded in [his] beliefs, confident, and possessing a great sense of purpose”, it is no wonder that he’s already achieved what all of strive to do- discover a passion and make it your life. There’s no telling where Daniel’s art will take him, but it would be no surprise to me if one day, as he is accepting an Oscar, we’re able to turn to our kids and tell them we walked the same halls as fantastic Mr. Fox.