We recently connected with Dan Cohen and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I got my first camera at 9 years old as a gift from my grandmother. The year was 1996, and the camera was an old Canon film series. Nothing like what you would see today. I began my creative journey by remaking music videos with my friends and family. That eventually developed into filming full fledge music video productions for local artists. This was not an overnight process. You don’t go from making skits and short films for fun with your friends to being a running a professional production company with a crew. In the 9th grade, I entered into the R.A.M.P (Recording Arts Media and Production) program at Frederick Douglas High School led by one of my greatest mentors, Dr. Lynn Patterson. This program was integral to me honing and developing my skills as a video Director and Editor, but also learning about live show production, animation, audio engineering, and script writing.
In Frederick Douglas High, as well as Baltimore City in general. There were a lot of outside influences that tried to distract me from my higher purpose and achieving my goals. The R.A.M.P program gave me something to look forward to each day and kept me focused by providing a consistent outlet for me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was born in Baltimore City in 1988. Not long after that I was put into the foster care system. For those that are unfamiliar with the foster care system, this is a government program that is tasked with finding housing for displaced children. Usually due to drugs, violence or neglect in the home. Instead of dwelling on the hand I was dealt and the challenges I faced. I used that experience as motivation to create art in the darkest places. This resilience is one of the things that sets me apart from others. I have been able to overcome challenges over the years in my business that would cause other entrepreneurs to quit. Over the pandemic, I expanded my business to offer multiple services that were not part of the original plan. Beginning in music videos, and now offering photography, photo booths, event videography and even branching out further into real estate film. The thing I am most proud of is being able to not only support my family from my business, but also being able to give back to the community I’m from, by providing stable jobs and education to aspiring youth.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

In my view, the best way that society can support artists and creatives is to support local and support small business. Every time you purchase something online from a mass producer, you are only making the rich, and privileged richer. When you buy local, you are not only supporting your local economy and creating new jobs where you live. You are helping a small business owner build their wealth and support their family. Another free way you can support creatives and small businesses is to like, follow and share their business pages like @irosefilmsphotobooth.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is the freedom. I choose my schedule, my pay, my clientele and the projects I want to take on. Editing is a meditative experience for me, I can cancel out anything else that is going on in my world and focus in on creating my art. Also, meeting all of the incredible people that I may not have had to opportunity to cross paths with otherwise.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.iRoseFilms.com
• Instagram: @irosefilms2 @irosefilmsphotobooth @iroserealestate
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Irosefilmsphotobooth/
• Twitter: twitter.com/irosephotobooth
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/irosefilms

Image Credits
I have the rights to all photos