We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Derek Daniel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Derek, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I believe that I get my resilience from watching my family overcome life challenges. When I was 10 years old, my parents (who raised a family of seven children) fell on hard times when my father’s health began to decline. As a result, they lost the family home and we lived in homeless housing for families for a year. As a kid, I didn’t understand the entirety of what my parents dealt with, but I did know that that time in my life didn’t feel good. But, my parents worked hard to provide us with all that we needed –safety, love, food, and, eventually, a permanent, nurturing home. They bounced back…and that’s what resilience is all about. So that is where I get my resilience from.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Go back in time with me and meet young Derek (me), a boy with an insatiable desire, curiosity, and love for “all things creative”. As long as I remember, I wanted to be a singer, which I pursued at an early age. I sang background for music artists on network television and wrote songs. I also modeled in magazines and fashion shows. But it wasn’t until a heartbreak that I realized that I was meant to pursue more in the world of entertainment. It is only natural that I began to focus my career on film and television.
In the present day, I am a budding director, actor, writer, and producer. In 2021 I premiered my first scripted series, LOSING HOPE, which is a narrative from the perspective of an African-American, gay man living in Los Angeles. Since then, LOSING HOPE has screened in front of audiences at various film festivals, including 1st Cannes International Independent Film Festival, 40th Annual Reeling: Chicago LGBTQ & International film festival, 4th LA Live Film Festival, 3rd Los Angeles Black Film Festival, 2nd Los Angeles Queer Film Festival. The entire series is also available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@losinghopeseries.
Currently, I continue making strides in my career with my upcoming short film, KELLY, about an independent, confidently single, Black woman who crosses paths with a charismatic horticulturist who inspires her to reevaluate her perspective on love. KELLY was recently selected to screen at the upcoming 8th LA Black Film Festival (scheduled for Febraruary 2-10, 2024). As I anticipate hearing from other film festivals that want to screen KELLY, I am excited that public screenings of KELLY will increase awareness of trauma and help audiences understand that healing and self-love are possible.
As an emerging filmmaker, I am committed to doing what I can to bring diverse stories to life. I am also extremely excited about all the opportunities God has lined up for me.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Overall, in a nutshell, the three qualities that are impactful to my journey are diligence, faith, and kindness. I believe my most impactful quality is diligence, which is reflected in my ability to work hard. Often, I feel like I don’t work hard enough, and at the same time feel tired and wonder if my effort is worthwhile. But I remind myself to stay faithful because faith without work is dead. So I stay faithful. I also believe that my genuine kindness is helpful to my career. No matter how talented people are, they always remember if someone is kind to them. This is what I believe helps me sustain great relationships.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
The book “Purpose Awakening” by Toure Roberts was impactful to my journey. The most valuable lesson that I took from his book is that you have to literally “move” to grow holistically. In his book, he told a story about someone he knew who kept a pet turtle in a tank. The turtle stayed in that tank for a while and remained the same size, physically. But when his owner decided to move him into a larger tank, the turtle grew and became larger. The story relays the significance of “moving” and allowing yourself to grow into new spaces — physically, mentally, and spiritually. This always inspires me to keep moving and, therefore keep growing into new phases of my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kellythefilm.com
- Instagram: @misterderekdaniel, @losinghopeseries, @kelly_
thefilm - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@losinghopeseries
Image Credits
Jerris Madison; Samantha Lopez
