Today we’d like to introduce you to Danny Farrell.
Hi Danny, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m originally from New York and grew up in Queens. I grew up in a household with loving parents, and I was one of four boys. I remember lots of laughing and playing. To this day, my favorite word is “Hooray!” After graduating from NYU, I went to work for Club Med, where my job was to entertain the masses through comedy, music, and characters.
When I returned to NY, I was doing standup and improv. I also worked for a DJ Company, where we would entertain guests at private events. I came out to LA in 2002 to pursue comedy and acting (how original of me :). I’ve had some success, but found the business to be kind of gross…so now I continue to create videos on my own, since I enjoy the creative process. I soon realized that I prefer to be my own boss, so I started my own DJ Company, NYC DJ’S, which continued to grow every year. I even got to DJ Oprah’s birthday party last year. I also had lots of experience with video production and started a separate company for that, NYC Films. I started to get more and more requests to shoot things like live shows, music videos, webisodes and continued to create my own comedy videos as well (www.dannyfarrell.com). There was a steady flow of work all around. Then, covid-19 graced us with its presence. My DJ business was shut down, and most of the video business as well, since I was doing lots of live events at the time. It was time to start over. So, I started home-schooling myself. I started taking tons of online classes. I got some certifications in digital marketing, and took advanced classes in video production and focused more on the business side.
Prior to covid, I had just started a new company, Ingenious Events, which was focused more on Photo marketing, with the latest Photo booths, and also incorporating DJ and lighting as well. I tried to figure out how I can stay relevant during this pandemic. For one of my projects, I wanted to address the fact that Christmas time was coming and no one would want to sit on Santa’s lap this year, so I designed a “Virtual Santa Experience” where I can utilize my photo booth technology. I made a great promo video, showing it in action, and am pitching it to malls and anywhere that may normally have a live Santa. The Grove (Caruso) was considering putting it at 3 of their locations, but with all the uncertainty this year, they decided against it. You can see the video here: https://vimeo.com/448212866 -wanna hire me? 🙂 I’m also offering Virtual Events for corporate clients, which include music, games, videos, performances, virtual photo booth, contests, etc.
Now I’m expanding on the Ingenious brand and am offering Real Estate Photography and Videography and Video Marketing for businesses. I like to refer to myself as a “Video Strategist” and would like to help companies grow their businesses. Other than that, I’m keeping my immune system healthy with good nutrition, exercise and vitamin D. I’m trying to make the best of the madness and appreciate that it’s helping me to think outside the box. I’m excited to see what’s next!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that Covid-19 has been one of the biggest challenges for me. My business was pretty much shut down. I do believe that these are the times where we have to stay positive and look for opportunities, and somehow search for the good that can come out of it. Like we would say as kids, while playing a game, “Do over!” For me, this pandemic is a time for a new start. When it’s all over, we can either say that we created new opportunities or just watched a lot of Netflix 🙂.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m known for a few different things. Different people will introduce me in different ways. I’m known as “Danny The Comedian” “Danny the DJ” “Danny the Video Guy”. I enjoy all of these things, and I think the reason I gravitated towards comedy, music and video, is that these things can make people happy…and inspire people. Happy people are not the ones doing the awful things we hear about on the news. Happy people want to spread more joy. It may sound corny or cliché, but I try to be a “happiness maker”, and I believe that everyone should feel important and appreciated. Before covid, I was volunteering with children at a homeless shelter, which was very special to me. I’ve realized that life is about something bigger than myself, so “giving back” is so important.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I like that this city is very health conscious. I love that I can go to local farmer’s markets and get fresh produce that grown the way it was intended. There are some amazing restaurants with creative and healthy meal choices. I like that there’s a huge yoga and meditation community, which I cherish because I enjoy being around people who are present. I love that we can take advantage of the amazing weather with outdoor spaces, like movies and dining. Like most, I dislike the traffic, but luckily I can usually adjust my schedule around it. This city also makes it quite challenging to be a landlord…but most rewards have their sacrifices. I also love all of the great hiking options, and other unique activities, such as Standup Paddleboard Yoga.
Anyway, life is what we make of it, and the only thing that we can control is our attitude. I look forward to taking these masks off, so that we can see each other smile again.
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@ingeniousevent.com
- Website: www.ingeniousevent.com
- Instagram: @dannyfarrell1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingeniouseventsla/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/danpatfar
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/nyc-djs-los-angeles-3
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/dj-danny-farrell
- Other: https://vimeo.com/448212866
