Daniel Hirsh

Daniel Hirsh (born May 18, 1982 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American film and video editor, director, cinematographer, graphic designer, actor, writer, producer and voice over artist. He has acted in and directed several World Premiere theatrical productions, and his editing work on short- and feature-length films have won awards at several festivals. Hirsh has trained as a videographer, actor, singer, and improvisational comedian, currently continuing work in Milwaukee, New York City, Atlanta and St. Louis. Working mainly with Atlanta filmmaker and entertainer Parthiban Shanmugam, other collaborators include Wade Ballance, Philip Barrett, Kevin L. Powers, and Thomas Smugala. Influenced by French videographer and university lecturer Pier Marton and screenwriter Richard Chapman, he has focused his career on narrative filmmaking, while also piecing together documentaries on energy healing, life after death and astral projection. He currently resides in New York City due to his interest in The New York Presbyterian Hospital which utilizes energy healing, and proximity to The Monroe Institute and University of Virginia, both of which partake in astral projection and consciousness research.

Daniel Hirsh
Hirsh in September 1999
Born
Daniel Harris Hirsh

(1982-05-18) May 18, 1982
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationWhitefish Bay High School
Alma materWashington University in St. Louis
Occupation
  • Editor
  • Actor
  • Cinematographer
  • Producer
  • Director
Years active1998–present
Known forDeep bass radio voice
Spouse(s)
Aline Gray
​
(
m. 2006; div. 2009)
RelativesHaskell Wexler (cousin), Michael Bloomfield (cousin), T. Robin Hirsh (cousin), Daryl Hannah (cousin)
Websitewww.danhirsh.com

Editorial, Production, Direction and Cinematography Work
  • Kent Rapeen: A True Story (2001) as Writer, Editor, Director, Producer and Cinematographer
  • Highly Experimental (2001) as Writer, Editor, Director, Producer and Cinematographer
  • The Writer (2002) as Writer, Editor, Director, Lighting Technician, Producer and Cinematographer
  • As The World Turns (Episode #1.11867, 2002) as Production Assistant
  • Between Lust and Brookings Drive (2003) as Editor, Trailer Editor and Assistant Camera
  • With Only a Belle (2004) as Editor
  • Chosen (2004) as Editor
  • Apocalypse and the Beauty Queen (2005) as Editor, Title Designer and Titles & Opticals
  • Shadow (2007) as Editor and Trailer Editor
  • Insanity du Jour (2007) as Off-Line Editor
  • How's Your Cart (2007) as Editing Consultant
  • The HusBand (2008) as Editor, Trailer Editor and First Assistant Camera
  • Motion Music (2008) as Editor, Assistant Camera and Casting Director
  • Spectre (2008) as Editor and Cinematographer
  • Patriot (2008) as Editor and Cinematographer
  • Regret (2008) as Executive Producer
  • You're Rejected (2008) as Editor, Trailer Editor, DVD Author and DVD Box Art Designer
  • Even Cactus Goes to Heaven (2009) as Editor and Trailer Editor
  • Bleeder (2009) as Editor and Editing Consultant
  • Vendetta (2009) as Editor and Cinematographer
  • Alone (2010) as Assistant Editor
  • The Ballad of Robert and Harvey (2010) as Editor
  • Miss Kitty & Me (2011) as Editor
  • 3 Cats and a Man (2012) as First Assistant Editor
  • A Letter to a Terrorist (2013) as Editor
  • The Little Jihadist (2014) as First Assistant Editor
  • Paper Planes (2014) as Editor
  • Men of a Certain Age (2017) as Editor

You're Rejected propelled Hirsh, Shanmugam and lead actor George Lee Clark to national and international recognition, winning "Official Selection" from the Filmböro Film Festival, "Honorable Mention" at the Philadelphia International Film Festival & Market, "Official Selection" at the AIAFF Film Festival, and "Official Selection" at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival.[1]

Film and Television Acting
  • Highly Experimental (2001) as Narrator
  • Making Revolution (2003) as Activist
  • Between Lust and Brookings Drive (2003) as The Man
  • With Only a Belle (2004) as Himself
  • Hooch & Daddy-O (2005) as Fan
  • October Road (2007) as Townie & Bartender
  • You're Rejected (2008) as Himself
  • Van Wilder: Freshman Year (2009) as Parent of Graduate
  • 3 Cats and a Man (2012) as Himself
  • Pikuach Nefesh: Saving Daniel (2016) as Himself
  • Messiah (2017) as Friend 1

Theatrical Acting

Hirsh's acting style has been described as amusing, comic, and quirky. His complexion and physical appearance have been compared to John Belushi,Jon Lovitz, and Steve Zissis, with a comic voice comparable to Nathan Lane's. He prefers the Practical Aesthetics school of thought, pioneered by David Mamet, William H. Macy and Robert Bella, but has actively participated in various other acting styles and techniques.

Hirsh starred as himself in an improvised Thesis project directed by Washington University senior Lora Ivanova in 2003. I See (You See) was a one-act play starring five actors, one of which would be audience-voted to strap a video camera to their head while playing out suggestions for improvisational scenes. The piece, mostly comic, was met with positive reception.

Hirsh's most notable performance was his portrayal of Sir Vashya Shontine in Tennessee Williams' one-act play, Me, Vashya, written in 1937 during the playwright's short tenure at Washington University.[2] The complete script was later published in the compilation The Magic Tower and Other One-Act Plays by publisher New Directions.[3] Me, Vashya was performed as a World Premiere production with The Glass Menagerie as part of the Washington University in St Louis Tennessee Williams Symposium in February 2004.[4]

Hirsh's third World Premiere production, Six Seconds in Charlack, by Washington University alumni Brian Golden premiered on April 28 of 2005.[5] Charlack was later performed on New York City's Off-Off-Broadway circuit at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center in August 2009.[6]


Theatrical Performances


Theatrical Directorial Experience


Tick, Tick... Boom! was Hirsh's first major directorial debut after Washington University secured the rights from the estate of Jonathan Larson to be the third venue in the world to produce the little-known rock musical.

A Shave was the first of a World Premiere site-specific trilogy of plays written by student Lauren Dusek and inspired by the on-campus success of Downsize by Chicago playwright Christopher Welzenbach.[7] Downsize was staged at Washington University's Mallinkrodt Center Men's Bathroom, with a maximum of only 11 or 12 audience members viewing the show at a time. The trilogy, consisting of A Shave, A Haircut and A Song, was staged in the Washington University Small Group Housing parking lot, an on-campus apartment, and a racquetball court in the Athletic Complex, respectively.[8]

Biographical Film
Hirsh on the set of "3 Cats and a Man" in 2011.

Following a divorce from Aline Gray in 2009, filmmaker Parthiban Shanmugam proposed the creation of a biographical film starring Hirsh and Atlanta singer/songwriter Debbie Aviva Kessler. The film's style would mimic My Dinner With Andre, in which the bulk of the picture was a completely improvised conversation between the two main characters, as well as footage from Hirsh and Gray's actual wedding, with a subsection devoted to Primal Therapy as the film's penultimate sequence. 3 Cats and a Man screened only once on May 17, 2012 in France.[9] Unhappy with the outcome, Shanmugam had the film re-edited and retitled Pikuach Nefesh: Saving Daniel[10] in 2016. The latter gained more attention due to Shanmugam's burgeoning social media presence, and was released through Amazon Prime Video in 2017.[11] The film received generally negative critical reviews, with one user commenting, "Daniel is not a particularly interesting person, in fact he is pretty boring,"[12] and another, "The characters are odd, and I didn't find myself liking either of them. More like feeling sorry for them. I give the main character credit for loving the film "Harold and Maude," though."[13]

gollark: +>eval_silent for(i=0;i<10;i++)insult(["inductor"]).then(x=>m.channel.send(x))
gollark: +>eval_silent for(i=0;i<10;i++)insult(["mathematician"]).then(x=>m.channel.send(x))
gollark: +>eval_silent for(i=0;i<10;i++)insult(["monoid"]).then(x=>m.channel.send(x))
gollark: Great?
gollark: Yeeees.

References
  1. Amazon, You're Rejected, April 1, 2010
  2. The Source, PAD to debut Williams play Me, Vashya, February 6, 2004
  3. Google Books, The Magic Tower and Other One-Act Plays, April 25, 2011
  4. The Source, 20 years after his death, a Tennessee Williams work is staged for the first time, December 19, 2003
  5. The Source, Six Seconds in Charlack: Hotchner-winning play to debut April 28-May 1, April 20, 2005
  6. Theatermania, 6 Seconds in Charlack, August 28, 2009
  7. Chicago Tribune, Who says art hasn't gone down the toilet?, June 13, 2003
  8. Student Life, A look at Student Theatre, April 12, 2006
  9. IMDb, 3 Cats and a Man (2012), retrieved 2018-07-04
  10. IMDb, Pikuach Nefesh: Saving Daniel (2016), retrieved 2018-07-04
  11. "Amazon.com: Pikuach Nefesh: Saving Daniel: Daniel Hirsh, Aviva Debbie Kessler, Robert Hatch, Parthiban Shanmugam: Amazon Digital Services LLC". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
  12. "Amazon.com: Pikuach Nefesh: Saving Daniel: Daniel Hirsh, Aviva Debbie Kessler, Robert Hatch, Parthiban Shanmugam: Amazon Digital Services LLC". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
  13. "Amazon.com: Pikuach Nefesh: Saving Daniel: Daniel Hirsh, Aviva Debbie Kessler, Robert Hatch, Parthiban Shanmugam: Amazon Digital Services LLC". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
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