Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Daniel Calderone. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Daniel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
There have been several moments during my personal and professional life where certain circumstances had demanded me to become more of a risk tolerant individual. While I’ve encountered and endured a litany of small risks throughout the necessary aspects of my creative career, it was this big risk that changed the trajectory of my entire life.
The big, life changing risk that I took upon myself was when I fully committed to the decision of becoming a filmmaker. Without any formal education acquired from film school or having the abundant access of industry leading professionals to network with consistently, I blindly embarked on this creative journey as an endearing promise to my childhood self. Now from a conventional perspective, most people reading this may think I dropped out of school, or drove across the country to Los Angeles in order to make these self proclaimed dreams happen. However, this big particular risk involved a more elaborate process that took me years to finally muster the courage to act upon it.
Throughout my formative years, I exuded the qualities of being a recluse and introverted individual. I never really followed through on my convictions or dared challenge the status quo because I was honestly afraid of experiencing any unfavourable outcomes. This risk adverse persona led me to some exceptional opportunities like becoming a university graduate in business marketing and landing a secure corporate office job. But the idea of living this safe existence was closely destroying the very integrity of my own character. It never had occurred to me that I was actively avoiding my goals and ambitions by working a mundane and irrelevant 9-5 job. But despite my efforts to voice any frustrations or concerns of working a job that I hated, the usual response from people was “at least you’re making money.’ The problem is I never saw money as a driving factor for my achievements, if anything, it was nothing more to me than a consequence of success. Nevertheless, I was too fearful to follow through with a decision that could finally provide me with some semblance of happiness or self respect.
After years of committing myself to several corporate jobs since graduating university, I was met with an unusual proposal from my employer at the time. They basically offered to revise my position at the company that would significantly reduce my work hours and salary income. The feeling that permeated throughout my body when hearing this disappointing news was utter humiliation. After years of dedicating myself to this esteemed organization and being recognized by all of its high level executives, this was how they saw me – expendable. I took a moment to leave the office and reflect on a decision that they forcibly expected me to make by the end of the day. My risk adverse tendencies were so uncontrollable that I tried getting a hold of my mother to ask of her opinion before making the ultimate decision. As I kept getting her voicemail every time I called, I rightfully knew within myself what I had to do next. After experiencing an overwhelming emotional moment that challenged me to defy my usual tendencies to conform to the risk adverse norm, I walked back into that office and respectfully resigned from the company.
I quit a promising corporate marketing job that would have provided me with endless benefits, opportunities, and a considerable pension. At the age of 25 when I quit my corporate job, most people from my upstanding suburban community were receiving high earning promotions instead of abandoning their perfect careers. This unconventional decision that I made for myself initially proved to be highly daunting and widely ridiculed. My loving yet deeply conservative parents were strongly against any action that involved quitting a fruitful career in exchange for a volatile one. Yet, through their generous love and constant patience, we came to an understanding as a family that despite the outcome of this long awaited decision becoming either good or bad, the end result would at least make me feel truly fulfilled.
Every moment I could recall up until this point was either directly or indirectly influenced by my family, friends, or social community. However, for the first time in my life, the decision to become a filmmaker was made on my own terms and in that regard I found it to be most rewarding. Soon after taking this big risk, I began in Toronto my production company – NinetyFour Productions Inc. – where I would spend the following 5 years directing, writing, and producing creative projects for clients and filmmakers alike.
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?
My name is Daniel Calderone and I am a filmmaker and creative producer from Toronto who is obsessed with the art of film and keen on developing my skills as a storyteller to creatively and culturally enhance cinema.
I made a breakthrough in the film industry without any formal film school education by becoming the founder and CEO of NinetyFour Productions Inc. in 2020. This is a Toronto based production company dedicated to filmmaking, videography, photography, marketing, and social media distribution. We explore imagination through creation and consistently ensure any piece of our content tells the story that will inspire the audience. Over the years, I collaborated with independent filmmakers, professionals in the field and assisted in various film and music video productions across Toronto and LA. Furthermore, I expanded my creative ventures with the organization by operating a remote podcast called Corner Talks where industry professionals discuss their career successes and failures. Also, I design and market my own street wear clothing line “The 94 Collection” through the use of dance music videos led by acclaimed hip hop / rap music. Over the course of my brief tenure, I had the privilege of acquiring and collaborating with notable clients including renowned entrepreneur Tom Bilyeu of Impact Theory and a prolific Toronto comedian named Neema Naz.
I am a graduate of the Ted Rogers School of Management program at the Toronto Metropolitan University where I pursued a Commerce Degree in Marketing Management. In the process of studying at TMU, I stayed true to my interest and enthusiasm for cinema. In doing so, I have written four feature length screenplays and several other shorts in the last three years. I have shadowed notable film directors as a production assistant, working on several projects including one with famous rapper Torey Lanez, all in my attempt to better learn and understand the process of filmmaking from behind the scenes. Furthermore, my obsession with movies have led me to work for the Toronto International Film Festival as a marketing distributor, Warner Bros. Canada as a publicity and promotions coordinator, and Entertainment One as a theatrical film marketing coordinator. I am currently working as a creative producer for a YouTube food travel series called BEYOND THE BLADE under the cutting edge culinary company called Dalstrong.
The stories I have written and the content I created as seen on my Youtube channel, highlight my strengths in creativity and my passion for cinema. Professors, teachers, and colleagues who have reviewed my style of creative writing and video content have praised me for thinking cinematically. However, I still recognize that in what I create there is always room for improvement and I am eager to pursue any which way to make it my best work possible.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My philosophy has always been to leave behind a legacy no matter what it is you choose to do in life. Filmmaking has consistently allowed me the platform to explore my imagination and creatively tell the stories that have the potential to inspire lives and relate to people. There are many renowned filmmakers including my hero the film aficionado himself, Quentin Tarantino, who have been immortalized by cinema because their art has simply become an extension of themselves. This particular mission to establish an everlasting legacy through filmmaking is the primary driver of my creative journey.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
There are countless forms of media I repeatedly consume on a daily basis for educational and entertainment purposes. However, there is one book in particular that has left an everlasting impact on my personal and professional outlook as a creative and that is The Creative Act by Rick Rubin. This masterful literary work breaks the conventions of a typical autobiography and uses the medium to tell profound stories of inspiration, struggle, trials and tribulations through transformative and relatable lessons that any artist can benefit from. Given the abundance of knowledge Rick Rubin provides for the reader in this book, I will provide 3 key takeaways that best resonated with me.
1. “The Source” is an abstract concept that Rick Rubin describes as being an abundant supply of creativity. The problem for many creatives like myself is sometimes not knowing how to find access or inspiration from it. Rick Rubin further conceptualizes The Source by explaining how creative ideas are both within and around us offering a myriad of possibilities when combining them in different ways. I’ve applied this theory for myself when writing screenplays in that I use different approaches to create unique results. For instance, I’ll listen to a certain genre of music to inspire the cadence of a scene or I’ll socialize with a particular group of people at an event to extract authentic lines of dialogue for a character. This concept of The Source allowed me to embrace the abundance of creativity by learning to approach it with my own unique perspective.
2. “Self Doubt” is a common experience for any creative who has ever existed. For myself, self doubt can sometimes become so crippling that I feel uninspired and unmotivated about my entire craft. Fortunately, Rick Rubin explains in his book that self doubt is a natural biological response for all humans and a hidden desire for self improvement. However, he further explains that self doubt should only become alarming when the artist refuses to share their work from fear of judgement. The comforting lesson from this chapter is sincerely understanding that every piece of art is a work in progress and never truly completed because perfectionism DOES NOT EXIST. People will always find something to critique, judge, or improve within your work. Therefore, your innate desire to create should triumph over any self doubt that would prevent you from creating nothing at all.
3. “Creative Habits” imbue a standard routine for artists to follow that can inspire and structure their craft. Personally, this is my favorite takeaway from the book as I already possess several habits that consistently activate my creativity. Habits that I ritually follow everyday when filming, writing, or editing include the exercise at the gym, reading, meditation, walking, and listening to music and podcasts. Occasionally, I will watch a few video essays on YouTube to ignite some creative juices and discover newfound perspectives, but for the most part I keep my habits minimal and focused in the ultimate goal of creation.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ninetyfourproductions.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d.calderone/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-calderone/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DanielCalderone94
Image Credits
Daniel Calderone, Axel Arzola, Jermaine Lawrence