Meet Daniel Pico

We were lucky to catch up with Daniel Pico recently and have shared our conversation below.

Daniel, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

Growing up in Wheeling, Illinois in the 80’s and 90’s Hollywood might as well have been another planet. When I went to the movies on weekends it was an event, a magic trick forty feet high and the spectacles I witnessed were not created by people… but Gods. How could I ever become a God? I had an early fascination with how the Gods created these manifestations and dove into every magazine and behind the scenes documentary I could find. My favorite was Richard Schickel’s documentary “From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga” I spent the years being obsessed with movies but a career in film industry, still a pipe dream. You must remember these were the 1980’s there was no social media and the only knowledge we had in the Midwest about movies was Entertainment Tonight or Premiere Magazine. If you grew up on the West Coast you had a different experience, you were probably doing extra work from the time you were a small child to a teenager for the free meals. Upon receiving the greatest Christmas gift ever, a PXL 2000 camcorder, I started making movies with my brother from when I was 8 years old, and continued all the way until I went to film school at Columbia College Chicago and graduated at 22. At that point I had a degree in film and tv and I considered myself a professional filmmaker ready to make my name. But no matter how many films I made, and I made a lot of movies especially shorts, they never seemed like real movies. Sure, there were things in them I liked, a shot here or there, a sequence that turned out well, or effect we pulled off, but it didn’t look like the manifestations of the Hollywood Gods of old, so I shouldn’t feel proud, I shouldn’t feel accomplished, I had to push myself harder. I eventually felt confident enough to make a feature film and poured every good idea for how to design a scene into that movie. Upon release the movie failed to find significant distribution in the end and went largely unseen. This was my magnum opus, and no one cared. So maybe if I was going to work in the film industry, I needed to accept that I was not meant to be on the top billing. I needed to be in a support role, at least I’d still be part of show. I invested heavily into a career as an Assistant Director when I moved to Los Angeles in the late 2000’s and was now the guy who yelled at other people on set to move faster to make other people’s dreams come true. Although I enjoyed being with the crews and some of the experiences I had I was just hiding from my own fears of failure, my sense of not belonging in this craft meant for Gods. About those Gods… By now I knew most of those that made movies were not Gods, a lot of them I suspected struggled to get out of grade school. Most of the people I had met in the course of my work were just lucky that they were the right person at the right time to get the call that changed their careers, and they had the self-confidence or ignorance to not question the opportunity. There was another issue I had; I was good at stepping on my own toes. For what started out as insecurity at talking to people in networking situations since I had all these private doubts about my own abilities and worth, I drank too much alcohol to calm myself. This culminated with a public screening of a short film I had made, and I drank so much before introducing the film, to this day I don’t remember what I said on stage to the audience before they ran the movie. This was not the warning sign to me that it should have been, and my problem grew in secret, until I finally had to come to terms with myself that I was never going to succeed in life or art until I dealt with the fear that steered every decision I made. I got on the wagon one November day in 2018 and stayed there. I took a job at a production company and for the first time I learned what it was like to really play a support role and not feel resentful that it wasn’t me running the show. I learned when you make yourself useful and are present people take notice and usually give you more responsibility. Within a year I was made an executive producer on a docuseries the company was producing and was getting my life together. Little by little I was making steps toward getting back in the director’s chair with directing episodes of web series for friends of mine who’d hadn’t given up on me after seeing me hit bottom. It was then that the world shut down and I was 40 years old, and I decided to move back to the Midwest to pursue a relationship that ultimately has become my marriage, and I also became a stepfather to three teenagers in turn. You may be reading this and asking what does this have to do with overcoming imposter syndrome? I’m getting to that, just be patient. So, I moved out of LA to the hot bed of film production… Rural Wisconsin. I realized quickly I would go mad stalking corn fields like He Who Walks Behind the Rows without a film community. So, I sought out the filmmakers in my area and in short time I got involved in the 48 Hour Film Project in Madison, WI. I formed a team of local talent and began competing in the intense filmmaking weekends where you only have 48 hours to write shoot and edit a 7-minute short film. The competitive side of me took over, and I now had to win. The year of 2023 proved to be sea change year for me professionally and personally. In this case I was the guy lucky enough to get the phone call, this time it was from David Bianchi an actor/producer and friend who had gotten the go ahead to produce a tv show for a new streaming platform and he wanted me to help him write the show and direct an episode if it went to series. And to series RZR our show went, and I was heavily involved in the production not only rewriting as the show required during production but also directing my episode, as well as directing 2nd unit and ultimately co-producing the show as well. The show was low budget but turned out very good and for the first time I felt some real pride when it came to the work we did. At the same time, I had found success in the 48 Hour Film Project and had made a film “Reasonable Doubt” that had won a major award and was selected by the competition to play in the short film corner at the Cannes Film Festival 2024. So here I am in the week of May 14th, 2024, and I was able to attend an Emmy FYC screening of RZR at the Wolf Theater in LA, and then the next morning I flew to France to attend my screening at the Cannes Film Festival that weekend. I went to Cannes on a mission to not let all the good fortune of late go to waste, so I went to the Cannes Film Market, and pitched my next feature project cold to dozens of production companies. With both RZR and Reasonable Doubt under my belt it wasn’t too hard to get a meeting. As I was standing by to take one of those meetings a woman who worked for the production company was keeping me company and asked how the market was going for me, I responded with “It’s been going great. I’m taking lots of meetings, and there’s real interest in what I’m doing.” She nodded and congratulated me considering all the professionals at the market were repeating the same phrase “Survive until 25”, meaning make it out of the 2024 production slump without seeking opportunities in solar installation. I was thinking back to all the advice I had gotten over the years, and the mentors that shared their experience with me. When I was 24 I met Glen Morgan one of the writers of the X-Files on a friend of mine’s set. I spoke to him for about an hour, and I remember thinking he’s one of the Gods what is he doing talking to me? My father and I would watch episodes of his show together on Fridays… But here he was telling me about his failed series “Space Above and Beyond” (A show I fucking loved by the way) he had taken hits in his career and had to bounce back, and he also was just a nerd about things like history and sci-fi… Like me. If I had listened closer between the lines in our conversation, I would have heard what he was really talking to me about. You must have passion and experience to take yourself seriously, and reliability and humility for everyone else to take you at your word. Because unless you’re making the same movie every time you make a movie, every filmmaker is a gamble and can have huge financial consequences for the people involved. Through my downs I had learned true humility, and in my ups, I understood take nothing for granted. I learned to feel gratitude not entitlement for opportunities I’d had. Entitlement is a way of covering up the fear that you don’t belong, because in life no one is entitled to anything. My own abilities as a storyteller had gotten better as I did more work over the years and I learned to not be precious about everything I did, you could “like” a take and move on instead of doing 17 more out of fear. I was more reliable and professional than I ever had been. I truly had no fear about talking to people of any ranking on set or in this market I currently was standing in because I knew . I told the woman I was with, “You know, normally I’d be nervous about talking to your boss, but this whole market I’ve had a kind of “no fucks” attitude. I’m not being rude to anyone; I just don’t feel intimidated in anyway.” She turned to me and smiled, “You know why that is? Because you know your worth.”

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Daniel J. Pico Is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a BA in directing and screenwriting. He has been shooting films his entire life having made his first movie at the age of 8.

Daniel has directed two theatrically released feature films “Common Senses”, and “Farewell Darkness” which won three best feature film awards in the international film festival circuit. Additionally, Daniel has directed more than 85 short films, music videos, commercials and documentaries, including 11 episodes of several popular TV and web series, garnering over 40 independent film awards and nominations for his work.

Daniel is the founder of Pico Blvd Entertainment, a production company who’s core is focused on independent cinema. Not only is Dan a maverick director, he is an accomplished editor and has worked in several major capacities in film, from producing multiple feature films, to first assistant directing several multi-million dollar features films around the world. His short film “Reasonable Doubt” recently debuted at the short film corner at the Cannes Film Festival – Marche Du Film 2024.

Currently he co-wrote the Gala Films/Exertion3 series “RZR” and served as a Co-Producer, Editor, and Director of Episode 6 “The Blood Dimmed tide” the show is currently streaming in the Gala Film Network and is consideration of the 2024 Emmys.

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?

Persistence, resilience, and curiosity are the three qualities that have allowed me to succeed in my field. I haven’t given up no matter all the hits I’ve taken over the years, and when I get hit, I get back up dust myself off and keep going. I believe you can’t stop learning and growing so my curiosity to know things has served me to not fall into atrophy intellectually or creatively.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

I’ll always be eternally grateful to my parents for passing on to me both the love of movies and a tradition of storytelling. In our family we always prided ourselves on our ability to tell stories and I got that from them.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Leadership Development
Empathy Unlocked: Understanding how to Develop Emotional Intelligence

“Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It’s the impetus

Productivity
Where do you get your work ethic from?

We’ve all heard the phrase “work hard, play hard,” but where does our work ethic

Productivity
Boosting Productivity Through Self-Care

When you have a never-ending to-do list it can feel irresponsible to engage in self-care,