We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daniel Ford a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Daniel, thanks for joining us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?
I often feel misunderstood and or mischaracterized. Even around my closest friends on occasion. I feel the need to over explain my actions, and or thought process, because I don’t trust people to fully understand me or who I am as a person. I suffer a lot from imposter syndrome. I was raised a certain way as a child, to serve others before even considering my own well being. So in most cases, even if I don’t want too, it’s just a subconscious mechanism for me to take care of others 90% of the time. There’s often a sense of enjoyment and or fulfilment I feel, when I know im responsible for the care of others. That’s where the imposter syndrome kicks in; because I still to this day don’t truly know if I do what I do because I enjoy it, or because it’s all I know. But regardless, I put smiles on the faces of the ones I love, so in the end, I guess you could say maybe I actually do enjoy it? I would love to disappear off of the face of the earth, even if it was for a day or 2, just to tend to myself. Still trying to find out what “that guy” is all about.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am an actor, director, producer, and writer. I am one of the founders and co owner of the production company, Lunar Eclipse Studios. I began acting back in 2020, simply by submitting to posts through backstage, craigslist, and facebook to be an extra for multiple projects.
I always thought acting was for pretentious people, who loved nothing else but attention and the spotlight. Knowing I was never, and will probably never be one of those people, I always strayed away from the profession. This was all until I came across the CW show, “The Vampire Diaries”. I remember it like it was yesterday, I was flicking channels, and somehow ended up on channel 9, a quarter through episode 11, season 2 of the Vampire Diaries. I remember watching that episode, encapsulated by the character Damon Salvatore, played by Ian Somerhalder, going through a range of emotions, trying his absolute hardest “not” to expose and embrace what he truly felt. In relation to how he felt, I started to think to myself, I could see myself doing the exact same thing, and since then, I was fixated on finding opportunities to get on a set of any kind.
Since 2020, I had the pleasure of working for NBC Studios, on productions 61st Street, Chicago PD, and Chicago Med as an extra, and featured extra on 2 different occasions. I also began taking classes at Acting Studio Chicago, learning theatre technique for about a total of 6 months. I then started taking classes at acting school Vagabond School of the Arts, where I learned on camera technique. I now work there as the self tape admin, where I constantly get to work with actors and actresses working on self tape auditions, it’s a great exercise to utilize my own acting skills, and keep myself sharp!
I also had the chance to work as a both a full time background extra, and eventually becoming a production assistant for Chicago Med Season 7. Afterwards, I had the opportunity to PA for shows The Chi, and an untitled NBC Pilot that unfortunately didn’t get greenlit. Those jobs and functions taught me about set etiquette, the workload of production, and how it all comes together from start to finish.
Since then, I started a company with my closest friends under the “original” name, Lunar Film Productions, now known as Lunar Eclipse Studios, where we initially used our collective knowledge and experiences working from different backgrounds and sets, and we made remakes of scenes from our favorite Television shows, and or Movies. We used this tactic learning how to produce and put together films, through trial and error of course, using our Iphones, just learning the rules of filmmaking. Eventually overtime, we became confident enough in our talents to start creating original content.
As of now, we have a short film and a feature film in post production, with a release date probably sometime in the fall for both projects. We are currently filming a short series, we are writing 2 short films, and also recently got hired to help produce a short film for a first time director. So to say at the very least, we stay pretty busy.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Time doesn’t and will never stop for you to grieve and or process. I have also learned that even with 24 hours in a full passing day (which is a substantial amount of time by the way), there still isn’t enough time to do the things you want to do in that time span. So overtime I have acknowledged that I never have “time” to do the things I want to do, or the things I need to do, but I simply have to make the conscious choice of “making “time to fulfill those desires.
The easiest story I can always track back to, was back in 2022, I was a PA on The Chi, in the middle of filming an episode. I then found out my home of a decade was on fire, and in that moment, I had 2 choices. Respond with emotions, or react with corrective action. I chose to react, and I continued to work until my shift was over, knowing that I am currently “at work”, making money to provide for me and my family so that we can survive everything that was to come moving forward from that tragic day.
A lot of people don’t know this, but I was homeless for close to a year throughout the summer, fall, and winter after my home was burnt down. I was sleeping in my car and or crashing on a couch somewhere. But also during that time, I “never” missed an acting class, I “never” missed a day to film with my crew, and I “never” missed a day of work. It takes these type of sacrifices, it takes that type of mild obsession to have for the thing you’re passionate about, that’ll separate you from the pack of other people who claim this is what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Well, are you really willingly ready to sacrifice a piece of your life, for an unknown undisclosed amount of time, in order to achieve your goals? I know for a fact, I sure as hell am.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
To be able to provide a healthy income for myself, and my family. I refuse to be the normal 9-5 corporate guy. Now take in mind, you have to spend money to make money, and that’s currently what I am doing. I am working the typical 9-5, but it will not define me as a person, and I certainly have no intentions of doing this exact work for the rest of my life. This lifestyle enables me to fund my dreams, and aspirations of becoming a successful business owner. Until further notice, it is what it is.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14765209/
- Instagram: @danieljoseph4d
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-Joseph-Ford/pfbid022EqxKWRBdCJrtbXxcJdY57VJ78EsToXYHGxV2PAWRxCuZhMBxrqQ41MbHhXUhYRDl/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-ford-078136162/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/shadowrunner4d
- Other: https://www.backstage.com/u/daniel-ford-1/