Who Am I?

I feel like I put up a lot of posts talking about To Tony Productions which is obvious because this is what this blog is all about. That being said I feel like I never talk about who I am. Well let me take this time to introduce myself. My name is Daniel Hess, I started To Tony Productions two years ago with the vision to one day create films that share new ideas and thoughts. Back then I was merely a sophomore in college, just really getting my traction when it comes to film but I had a big dream. I named the company for my cousin Anthony because ever since he passed away from CF I always wanted to do my best to make him proud, so I named my production company after him. Now To Tony Productions is picking up steam as a full service production company, currently we are finishing our second music video, starting a third up in September, and soon to be releasing Voicebox.

What about myself...well I am just an average guy I guess. I am currently freelancing and working for different companies in the video field. In my free time I like to watch movies, exercise, play with my dog Lexi, and write. This year has brought about the most change in my life since probably 2008. In the month of May I finished college at Towson University and quit my job of five years at Oak Crest Village. I decided that the rest of this year would be committed to finding work in the film/video industry full time. My plan is to have something concrete before the winter, if not however I will probably just have to settle for a full time job somewhere which would suck but it is a means to an end. Yeah I consider myself a workaholic when it comes to video production but I love it too much not to pour my heart and soul into it.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2000 film Meet the Parents,  The scenes at the "Surf and Turf" restaurant were filmed at a Port Washington, NY restaurant called "Louie's". The car racing scenes between Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro were also filmed in downtown Port Washington. Also, the scene where Stiller and De Niro go shopping is in Port Washington at Salem Drugs.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Video Portion Done

So the video portion of Voicebox is all done and it is almost exactly 14 minutes long before credits. I finally finished the first rough cut up and it looks pretty sweet and the prom scene which I thought may have been a total disaster didn't look half bad once it was all cut up. I think it has an emotional impact and it has a very compelling story that is simple yet complicated with each of the main characters lives being filled with large issues. To me it feels like a feature but plays as a short film which I think is what every short film strives for. It certainly doesn't look like a student film at all, it looks like a professional production! So I am excited I hope everyone else is excited, I can't wait to show it off to the world. I want to have a big screening for it!

Other news today, after going back to work yesterday for the first time in a while I think I came to a nice consensus with myself. I have decided to go with the route of only working three days a week at work (Mon., Tues., Weds.) and then having the rest of the week off to focus on film work and also booking other gigs. In the end I won't be working as much, but can still get something in the form of a steady paycheck and then at the same time commit enough energy to my film work. I am also selling all my video game stuff which I sold my Dreamcast + games today for $50 so I am happy.

Oh finally I wanted to say that I officially can not stand the way my immediate family (father and mother) view this film stuff. I was going into work yesterday and you would have thought that I was going off to my new job as a lawyer or something. My mom was so happy telling me to have fun and crap but when I tell her I am doing a film or even show her footage from this awesome project she shows no emotion and doesn't even seem to care. I mean I work a dead end job cleaning pots right now she shouldn't be cheering for me to even go to this craphole but yet she is.

Sorry I got off on a rant today but trust me I am in a great mood today!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess