Daily Inspiration: Meet Daniel C Katz

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel C Katz.

Hi Daniel, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Santiago, Chile, under the dictator Pinochet. We eventually escaped to Miami. My family are all artists and creatives, but I was determined to be a Formula 1 driver. I did not accomplish this goal. My mom was the entertainment correspondent for Telemundo. One day when I was like 8 or 9, I was bored at her office, and I turned an entire supply closet of Post-its into animated flip-books. They sent me down to the TV graphics department to keep me busy. I eventually ended up in art school, where I learned how to be sad, do drugs, and make cyberpunk animations on pirated copies of early 3D software.

My first week of college in New York was 9/11. It was a weird time. Four years later, for my thesis, I screened a bunch of half-baked films in the Great Hall, the location of Abraham Lincoln’s second most famous speech. I’m pretty sure I got more laughs. After the 2008 crash wiped out my $500 savings account, I sold everything and made an animated short film, “Xemoland,” that screened at Sundance. Which was cool except for the part where I was on antibiotics, going through a breakup, and my producer threatened to punch me in the face.

I made a YouTube series about having sex with aliens that got over 100 million views. I sold like ten or so animated series to major networks that didn’t get picked up to series for various unbelievable and absurdist reasons. The last one for Netflix was on me, though, as I insisted the main character be an eel in a rollerblade. They did not like that.

But if there’s any good quality I do have, it’s that I never give up. I’ve fulfilled a lifelong dream of making my first animated feature film, “Matters Beyond”, an existential afterlife adventure comedy. It will be playing somewhere everyone can see it soonish.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As you can tell from my previous response, there have been no struggles at all. Smooth sailing all the way. Karl Lagerfeld had a quote that I’m going to butcher, but it was something like “Of course the work is hard, but it’s not cool or chic or whatever to make some kind of spectacle of labor”. I think the only artists who never struggle are those guys who used to make those space scenes out of spray paint and cans on boardwalks and outdoor malls in the 90s.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I always tend to write characters with dreams and aspirations that far exceed their abilities and the universe’s willingness to facilitate their delusions. Whether you can truly bend the universe to your will by the sheer force of your idiocy or if accepting the limitations of reality is the way to peace and happiness tends be the central debate in my work. I’m also known for neon glows that can only be made by someone who grew up in Miami in the 80s.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love the people here. I love dreamers. Tacos. The mountain roads. The light. Girls that wear baseball hats with long hair. LAX is a Jacques Tati film come to life. My grandfather came to LA in the 20’s to be a singing and dancing man. He dated Joan Crawford and got cast to be the voice of the prince in Snow White. Walt recast him before the film was released. It was so crushing that he gave up on his Hollywood dream and went back to Chile. I both love and hate that a hundred years later it’s basically the same city.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.danielckatz.com
• Instagram: @danielckatz

Image Credits
photo by Michael Leviton