The process by which filmmaker as well as artist Dan Covert built his creative career

"Nothing's going to make itself by itself," says Dan. "The easiest way to get your name is by producing products. Even if it's offering a variety of services in order to get friends involved with making stuff and keep you engaged as a film maker."

This ethos has led Dan through a professional path that has seen him win awards from AFI, SXSW, and clearly the Staff Picks. " has shaped our careers,"" says Dan. "That seems a bit ridiculous yet it's what's real. We never would've had an audience for such things. We simply bought cameras and then learned how to make things."

After the release of his feature film debut " Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life," which won the Audience Award at this year's SXSW and gave us an chance to talk with Dan about his creative process. Dan about his work process and his most innovative north star work. Take a look at the highlights of the conversation above, and be sure to check out the whole conversation.

   Your first job as graphic designer. How did you get from there to feature filmmaker?

Dan Dan: Dan and I founded an entity in 1996 which started out as the graphic design industry. It eventually was transformed into a motion graphic company, later becoming a production firm. So it's this long evolution. Through the years, we created shorts and many of them were Staff Picked to wear .

We've just begun experimenting and figuring out what is our company's style as well as as as directors. It was the time to turn 40 and thought, "I'm going to make films in the near future." But then I thought, "Maybe I'm not going to create films until I'm ready to start." Therefore, I began searching for stories I wanted to tell and found the film.

   16 years is an incredibly duration to create the products you need in this industry. What do you do to keep it going?

Dan Dan: It's really enjoyable to work on this. It was a while ago, but I was not contemplating, "Oh, there's going to be this huge occasion where my career's shifting and I'm attending the Oscars." It's not my intention to think about this issue. It's all about "Am I having fun today? Do I feel like having fun while on the road?"

When you've made an item, it is released out in the world There is no way to know how others will respond to it. That's the same as asking "Did I create my best job in creating the most efficient product I could? Do I have time the people I respect and admire? Do we try to be honest and authentic?" I'm the irons-in-the-flame kind of guy. I run a business. I am a commercial director. I've been producing this feature-length film for a while. I've had a lot of success in my art work. It's just about taking a step at a time and doing things I like as well as saying "We'll see where they lead."

It's not that I'm worried regarding things like the " where they go' part because that could cause death. At the end of the day no one cares about whether you're famous or accomplished? This isn't the stuff you're going to remember when you're old.

   Which is your own North Star?  

Dan Dan: We're constantly working to improve this. It's actually storytelling acumen. Craft and visual art. It's a bit of unclear terms, however they do contain a lot of significance. The same is true for asking "Can you tell a story?" A lot of times people come with an unfinished idea, and we as storytellers, have to pull out the tale.

Commercials and art are somewhat opposing factors, however not at the most advanced scales. It's more about emotion and conveying that emotion through breathtaking cinematography. Each of us has our unique voice. The thing that most excites me is the story and character.

How do you work to build a brand that doesn't compromise the vision that you've got for your brand?

Dan At first, I thought that it was something like "Oh I'm being hired to perform the tasks they need." But then, I realized "No I'm hired simply to help them and I'm fully aware of the things I'm doing." It was a huge shift trying to understand the needs of their employees and what their preferred style was. It's still important but the more and more I've grown in my role as an executive I've realized that they're relying on you to speak with a personal voice, to understand the complexity and say "What you're supposed to be doing is the following."

   Do you have brands that you'd like to collaborate with?  

Dan The reason I say this is because I'm not very attentive to that sort of thing. It's a matter of, "Is it a fun or challenging task?" A few of the boring assignments I've had to complete have transformed into some of my most fun work. The film I created was inspired by the type historian of Syracuse It's a Staff Pick video we did. The guy was that was in a basement and discovered this font, and Pentagram turned it into the official logo of Syracuse University. This guy is amazing. I'd like to speak to those who are like his.

Anyone would want to work for Nike and every other fantastic company. Sure that is fun, but I enjoy finding fascinating stories that are original and having the privilege of offering these stories a platform.

I've never had the opportunity to be a director. It was a huge validation for me as an artist that I had 300,000 viewers in two days watched the documentary we wrote. It was a reaction of "Oh I'm so grateful." Do you know what I'm talking about? The film was not produced as a short film. The film was created for a client project and we re-edited it somewhat, after which I later showed the viewers.

   Dress Code has been around for some time. What's it about the dress code that keep you on the stage?

Dan Dan: It's the platform where all the creators can be found, and they are able to view our work. Much of the stuff is related to short films. The concept is self-funding, in the sense that we throw out small trial balloons and letting other creatives see these balloons. The results are always surprising. Somebody from an ad agency could call you and say like "Hey We saw this thing. Do you have the ability to do a commercial to us?" It's like a one-to-one. If we're putting work out in this manner, right people are taking notice, and the project is elevated and giving us the chance to gain.

   Where do you go to find your source of inspiration?  

Dan Dan: I get my greatest inspiration in my work by the artwork of. In reality, I don't look through a lot of videos anymore. I've found it kind difficult and then I'm tempted to copy the things I see which is why I search at things that are out of the ordinary and check out documentaries for feature films or even look into fine art for framing and visualization methods.

   What's the most helpful piece of advice you've received?  

Dan Dan from Steve Martin where he says, "Be so good that they won't be able to avoid your." My experience is that I've enjoyed this. The same is true for a lot of people want fast and easy ways to build things and then they're sure it's finished. Where for me it's more concerned with putting time into building the foundation of your work. And then, you'll feel so satisfied that people will come across your work.

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