Meet Daniel Olguin of Torrance, CA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Olguin.

Hi Daniel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Daniel Olguin. I was born and partially raised in Southern California and mostly raised in Tucson, AZ. My mom likes to say I loved movies since I was a baby. That she used to take me as a 1 year old to the movie theater and I would just sit there watching, not making a sound. I can’t really say if that’s true, but I like to believe it is because I really do love movies, tv shows, really any form of art.

After high school, I went to AMDA College and Conservatory and quickly realized that Musical Theater wasn’t quite right for me. I graduated the Conservatory Program and immediately started auditioning and acting in film projects. I was eager to learn everything I could. I took writing and improv classes at places like Second City, and iOWest (when it was still open) and acting classes at various acting studios in LA. I continued auditioning and was lucky enough to work some cool gigs before… Covid.

After the pandemic, feeling like I had lost the momentum and still feeling like I had no proper acting training, I moved to New York to study at Terry Knickerbocker Studios. I graduated in 2023 and hit the ground running, deciding to start making my own projects and put everything I had learned and all the new connections to use to continually learn more about how to make ideas and projects a reality.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I don’t know if it’s been the smoothest road. I started off as an actor and I never really thought I’d be behind the camera as much as I have been. Writing and directing has been great and I’ve definitely fallen in love with it but I never really had formal training or education in regards to either. I’ve been lucky to have great teachers and people that just jumped in head first with me.

For my first project, we did a 10 episode mini series called barely friends, and I’ll tell you for a first project, that was one of the hardest things I think I’ve done to date. We had four main producers and three of them were also acting in it and were wearing probably 5 hats at once. We really were making it up as we went. But it turned out great and it led me to trust my voice and vision more.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Like I said, I’m an actor but I’m also a writer, director, editor, and producer. I think like most people nowadays, I’ve become a one-stop shop, wearing many hats for each project. Most recently, I’ve founded my production company, ElevenTwelve Films which has released a mini series, barely friends, and is in post production for a short documentary about my sister, who was an ex-Olympic hopeful, as she navigates the ending of a dream that’s taken up her entire childhood.

I think what sets me and ElevenTwelve Films apart is we really, deeply care about process and not shying away from projects that may be a bit bigger of an undertaking than we probably should be taking on. But it has only led us to getting better at making projects that are important and meaningful.

One thing I hope for is that our past project and any of our future projects continue to take on capture the beauties in mundane and ordinary moments, where every moment feels both insignificant and impossibly significant. I’ve fallen in love with stories that capture this nuance, and I hope all our projects captures that same humanity.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Honestly, I’m still starting out myself so if anyone has any advice for me, please let me know.

I think the biggest lesson for me has been to just start making things. Even if you don’t know everything about the ins and outs of making a short, or writing a script, or making music or anything, just start. I used to think I needed to come to people with polished and perfect ideas but I’ve learned that most people just want to learn and be apart of the process. Being able to just throw things at the wall and have people by your side willing to do that same thing is the greatest asset you can have. Take risks and fail publicly.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.danielolguin.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hijodebodega/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielolguin1/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIVjbcPwDQ3WZxExeUDym5Npj-V8u5fQd&si=RN38Kv2UwOPpyWYY
• Other: https://www.barelyfriends.com