Dan Turner

STOCKPORT director/writer Dan Turner has clinched the prestigious Crew of the Month title from North West Vision, the region's leading audiovisual agency. It comes as the second accolade this month for Dan - he is also featured as one of the leading lights in the inaugural Talent Year Book for the Northwest.

Dan’s hot off the plane back from the Cannes Film Festival where he’s been touting around his third and latest short, Second Guest. Working under the banner of Damyan Filmworks he is an established, festival-savvy short filmmaker.

“It’s been hard work getting this far but it’s all been worth it and we now hope to move Damyan Filmworks onwards and upwards. I’m immensely proud of the shorts we’ve produced and the success they’re enjoying,” says Dan.

Venturing into the industry straight from university nine years ago, Dan trod the only path open to most eager young things – he worked his way through feature film production as a freelancer in London, building a name for himself.

Following short films he previously directed at university and capitalising on his wealth of contacts from jobs, he then wrote and directed 4:37, a creepy tale of things that go bump in the night. “I had a lot of contacts, lots of support,” Dan remembers, “you have a foot in the door if you’re already working in the industry. The media is uniquely friendly - people in many capacities are eager to help newcomers, as they realise they could be working with you later on in your career.” 4:37 stormed the Manhattan Short Film Festival in 2003, running as a finalist for Best Film.

Damyan Filmworks relocated to Stockport and Dan’s next short film, Connecting, arrived in 2005, thanks to funding from North West Vision’s 2004/5 Digital Shorts scheme. It’s a tense look at mobile phone culture from the confines of a packed rush hour bus. Connecting grabbed the Runner Up prize for Best Film from the North at the Kinofilm Festival in 2006.

Second Guest, the latest short out of the Damyan Filmworks stable, is an atmospheric vignette again funded by North West Vision’s Digital Shorts scheme (2006).

When asked for his career highlights, it seems the whole filming process is quite a high for the director. “Turning up on the first day of shooting to see thirty people waiting for you to say go is daunting but exciting,” he says, although he admits prepping and shooting can also be tough and pressured. “But when you’ve worked hard and have something to be proud of it’s a thrill.”

Dan has seen plenty of changes to filmmaking since he started out. “Technology in the last 10 years has developed so much that now people can make their own shorts with good quality equipment, it’s a lot more accessible and people can be more independent in how they approach a career in the industry,” says Dan.

The Northwest’s media profile has never been higher thanks to shows like Life on Mars and Shameless, not to mention the BBC move, and Dan is confident the region is ripe for feature film production. He is currently preparing a feature length script to enter in to North West Vision’s brand new Digital Departures scheme. “Short films are practice, but it’s a big step to make feature films,” says Dan, gearing up for the thrust forward the scheme will give him in terms of developing his skills and working with other writers to produce a feature length script. His personal ambition is to now bridge the gap between successful short filmmaking and directing feature films.

Dan has now added Second Guest to his showreel, and is hoping his hat-trick of shorts will soon help him land that first feature film directing gig!

Contact Dan Turner
E: dan@damyanfilmworks.com
T: 07801 269162