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

Summer Production

So today I woke up (late in the morning of course) and couldn't help but think back on the past productions I have tackled over the summer months...wonderful times. Way back when in 2010 I was working on my True Docs series of shot documentaries facing subjects from the importance of dog care to family to heroin addiction, it was an interesting time for sure and without knowing it I captured two of the most important documentaries of all. The first one being on the subject of Family, which my grandmother did for me, only a few months later she would pass away suddenly which was heartbreaking but the interview she gave became very important. The next one I did was on the subject of Heroin Addiction and my cousin gave the most honest interview I think I have ever seen and even to this day people are still watching that video and finding some hope/truth in it. It is up to over 15,000 views on youtube.

The other production I did was Gas Guzzlers in 2010 which was a huge project which took what seemed like forever to make. Facing days where it was almost 100 degrees out myself, Jordan, Joe, Ashley, and Chad all went out to either North Point State Park or Fort Howard to film. We would mainly film from 10 or 11am to 3 or 4pm since at the time everyone except Ash and Chad worked at the same place. It was a cool shoot and taught me even more about making a found footage style film, I even got to screen it at Towson University that same December.

In 2011 that was a much slower season but one which was filled with praise I guess is the word. I am cheating a bit and counting May in this season since that is when I participated in the 72 hour film festival and what we got out of that was Spiritus. This film was the first project that I was a part of that won best in show, it was amazing. Then later on in June was the 48 hour which we got Nina out of, it didn't win anything but was a finalist at the screening. It was promising season in 2011 but a series of fallouts with friends ruined that...however what was to follow helped to shape me into the semi professional that I consider myself now.

This summer is proving not to be a summer for my productions or making a new film, but a summer of building connections and relationships. I am excited to see where this season takes me and I am sure the place I will end up is going to be better than I could have ever imagined.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Random movie fact of the day: 
In the movie Silent Hill the strange stumbling movements of the Dark Nurses when they first "come alive" was created by filming them walking backwards, and then running the film in reverse.