Heaven Spent

?

He attended New York's Vassar College, winning honors at various festivals for his student film work and receiving the college's academic film & cinematography prize upon graduation. He also wrote and directed a three-hour stage play that had the misfortune of opening the same night as an on-campus Billy Joel concert.

?

Growing up in Connecticut and New Jersey, he was largely a self-taught artist, drawing at an early age and winning several local and regional art competitions.

Show More

?

He attended New York's Vassar College, winning honors at various festivals for his student film work and receiving the college's academic film & cinematography prize upon graduation. He also wrote and directed a three-hour stage play that had the misfortune of opening the same night as an on-campus Billy Joel concert.

?

Growing up in Connecticut and New Jersey, he was largely a self-taught artist, drawing at an early age and winning several local and regional art competitions. While at Vassar, McDaniel studied film production, history, and theory, as well as directing, cinematography, and set design.

?

Following graduation, McDaniel went on to serve as a technical director and set designer for several theatrical stage shows, and as a production designer and cinematographer for independent films and documentaries.

Since moving to Los Angeles, he has worked for such companies as Ascent Media, Columbia College Hollywood, Big Ticket Television, and Warner Bros. -- where he spent over 11 years.

His illustration work has been featured in several galleries and publications, including a film soundtrack rerelease by Intrada Music, and at special events held by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Paris Games, The Newport Beach Film Festival, and Los Angeles' Secret Movie Club.

As a writer, McDaniel's screenplays have garnered over 20 festival and contest honors, and coverage in the popular entertainment website Aint It Cool News. His first novel, How To Succeed in Heaven Without Really Dying, was published in 2002.

?

McDaniel's definitive website about American illustrator Richard Amsel (The Sting, The Dark Crystal, Raiders of the Lost Ark) helped to rekindle awareness of the late artist's work. McDaniel is currently filming a feature length documentary on Amsel's life and career, through his company, CINEMALAD PRODUCTIONS. McDaniel traveled extensively throughout the United States, conducting over 50 interviews with Amsel's friends, colleagues, classmates, and art collectors, as well as new generations of artists whom Amsel inspired. The documentary, AMSEL: ILLUSTRATOR OF THE LOST ART, is the culmination of over a decade's worth of research into Amsel's life and creative oeuvre.

Show Less