Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Rodriguez.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Hello, my name is Daniel Rodriguez I am from Caracas Venezuela and I am a Director of Photography and Editor.
Although the world of cinema has always been present in my life since I was little, going to the movies, the auto-cinemas, and most Disney movies at home, what I studied at university was Engineering, my parents were engineers and since I was good at math and physics at school I thought that it would be the path for me.
Less than a year after working as an engineer, I knew that excel sheets, products, and a fixed salary were not the right fit for me. During that year, together with two of my best friends, we created The Magus Films, an audiovisual production company to be able to make films once we have money and experience.
The first thing I asked my partners is what is needed to move the company forward and the answer was: we need a Director of Photography. At that time I did not know what that position was or what it did, so I started to studying by myself and reading books, watching online courses, studying, and practicing.
Thanks to that I was able to discover how incredible the Cinematography of a movie is, after all, is a moving picture and the lights are a big part of what an image needs, also how necessary it is for the Cinematographer to be in charge of lighting, shadows and much of what is related to the picture.
That was 10 years ago and since then I have dedicated myself to the creation of many audiovisual pieces, starting from small projects such as Behind The Scenes for shoots and music videos to larger projects such as Tv commercial ads, Corporate videos, YouTube, and social media videos, and short films such as The Girl of the Rift, which is being screened at different festivals in the United States this year.
I have lived in Miami for 5 years and before that, I lived in Barcelona, Spain. Miami has been a great opportunity to grow and to be more in contact with major film and television productions. I have work.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Although since I started it has not been easy, I have considered myself lucky and blessed. I had to work hard to be able to open the door to advertising video production in my country, the big name companies would work with only the best and since I had to work myself from the bottom, I took any opportunity I had to show the best of my abilities, and that would pay off.
I felt lucky because I’ve been given the opportunity and that’s the only thing that you need. I made mistakes that helped me learn more about the craft, there were scary moments when I didn’t have a job for several weeks, and I thought about changing ways and getting a stable job, but I never did, I kept pushing and sticking with my choice of making a movie someday.
After more than 6 years of growing and working with better brands and more projects, the situation in the whole country was a disaster. The image that I had is that if we think of our country as the big boat that we are all in, even if we get to the bow of the boat, working our way to the top of the boat is not moving, we are not going anywhere, so that’s what I felt about Venezuela, if I wanted to grow I needed to go someplace else, even if that means to leave what you have build behind.
My mind went to Spain because I have family there and it was the same language and similar culture. It was tough, I didn’t know anybody, and was difficult to find a job in video production, I have to work other types of jobs to survive, and even when I did find a couple of gigs there, it was not enough to live from that.
By the act of destiny or fate, I had to come to the US, to solve things with my production company, my partners were already here and they convince me to stay in Miami and try my luck in the US. And so I did. I applied for a Visa O1, an extraordinary talent or ability visa, that would let me work as a Director of Photography and live here in the city.
We have not known many people here so at the beginning was tough, finding jobs and getting through the month, but we as a company supported each other and made it through the first years which are the most difficult ones when you have just arrived in a new country.
My family is a big part of my life and having to leave them in Venezuela is one of the hardest things I have ever done as well as with my friends. I spend 4 years without seeing them until last year when I could go back to my country and spend a few days with them.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a Cinematographer or Director of Photography. I’m in charge of everything that covers the picture you are seeing in a video, tv, or movie. Since I’m living in the US I specialize in creating social media content for small and medium businesses, looking to create a unique story for the brands and making them able to connect with more people and clients, helping them grow.
I’m known for being the main creator for The Magus Films I’ve been their main Cinematographer and Editor here in Miami. I have won an ANDA, an advertising award in Venezuela for a piece that we did for a Heart Transplant Organization in Venezuela and recently I have won a few Telly Awards for pieces that I have done photography and editing also.
I won a 2022 Silver Telly award as Best Cinematographer for Celebration of Live a conceptual/promotional video that we did for Virtual Mom Collectives an organization that helps mothers to develop their business, as well as a 2022 Bronze Telly award for best Video Production Company Reel.
I am very proud of my first short film, The Girl of the Rift, we did it ourselves, without any external financing, 3 months of pre-production, a whole week for the shoot, and several months editing and post-producing it. It has been pleasantly received at festivals as of right now we have won one award as best Fantastic film, and been officially selected (as of September) in 7 film festivals in the United States. I love that many people can see it on the big screen and enjoy it and the feedback that we are getting has been great.
I am moved by history and storytelling, everything I do gravitates toward getting the story told compellingly and that is what I try to do in all my videos, from my short film to the social media spot that we do for our clients. I’m just a tool that let others truly shine and facilitates a way for them ( and for myself) to express their feelings, ideas, stories, or products.
What’s next?
I’m already working on my first feature film, co-writing the script with my partner Luis Bond. We hope to be able to shoot the entire film here in Miami with local talent and also from my native country, there are quite a few great talents living in the US. we are also co-writing other short films.
The second thing is that we are expanding our company, looking for investors to help us grow in size, first to have a studio that we can use for several projects, and using it for small businesses that may not have a lot of resources to create high-quality content.
Using that studio as a hub, our filmmaking base, to star producing not only our movie ideas but to help other creators to develop theirs that way we can have more and more big projects especially movies and documentaries here in Miami.
We want to be the best production company here in South Florida and I want to be their best Director of Photography for that company. The US has given me a lot of opportunities, to work and to show my work and be recognized by it, and I’ll love to continue doing that, elevating the stories we tell in all media and the movies we make as well. The future looks bright that’s for sure!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.themagusfilms.com
- Instagram: @themagusfilms
- Facebook: facebook.com/darmander
- Twitter: @darmander
- Other: vimeo.com/darmander
Image Credits
Kevin Jordan, Orlando Adriani, and Xenia Marcinko
