AN INTERVIEW WITH

DANIEL P QUINN

EXPLORE THE FILMMAKING INSIGHTS, PERSPECTIVES & MORE!

Below, you’ll find our exclusive interview with Daniel P Quinn. We hope you enjoy!

Could you start by telling us a bit about yourself? Give us a brief introduction!

We won 34 FilmFreeway Awards/Certificates for American Phantasmagoria (Best unpublished Script) Newark, Italy and me (Lulu.com); the DEATH OF HERCULES from Sophocles’ THE WOMEN OF TRACHIS; and SACCO & VANZETTI: BURN !!! in Berlin, Paris, Bali; Kurdistan, Iraq; Rome; Seattle; San Diego, Montreal, Sweden, Philly, Milan, New Orleans and more from 12/20–2022.

Where are you currently based out of?

Metropolitan NY/NJ

What inspired you to start creating films?

Stanley Kubrick, Federico Fellini, Roman Polanski, Francis Ford Coppolla, Edward Bond.

Who most inspires/influences your style and specific execution currently and why?

DREAMS OF MADNESS & WONDER
The epoch of (t)rump is on us and the world stage. Farm and urban or rust belts economically are a shambles. Arts attendance is falling but my career began to practice my theatrical notions of “madness and wonder.” Wonder is a word that has only attracted me in the recent past, a word which I never felt particularly excited about.

Until…

A fleeting memory of the Adults in The Nutcracker when I was 8 years old with the NY City Ballet way upstairs via a Second Balcony entrance.

In Newark, I remember the torn proscenium curtain more than a Russian pianist recital at the Mosque Theatre (Symphony Hall) about 1962.

Certain practitioners of genius have remained with me throughout my theatregoing life:

American Bass-Baritone Norman Treigle in NY City opera career from Boito’s opera MEFISTOFELE, Gounod’s FAUST, Offenbach’s HOFFMANN (in his final performance there) from 1969–1972.

The magical Broadway work of Tom O’Horgan from HAIR in his Broadway debut to productions of LENNY; INNER CITY; and JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR.

Luca Ronconi’s debut with ORLANDO FURIOSO in Bryant Park. His distinguished work at LaScala and in Milan at the Piccolo Teatro. Ronconi’s epic Broadway production of Goldoni’s LA SERVA AMOROSA at the (now defunct) Mark Hellinger Theatre in 1986.

Let us not forget the maligned Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center but treasure their productions of Gorky’s ENEMIES, Al Pacino in Tennessee Williams’ CAMINO REAL with notable actors like Rosemary Harris, Josef Sumner, Nancy Marchand, Susan Sharkey, or Philip Bosco for example.

The rigor mortis in the itty bitty was the floor of the basketball court at The American University or a lecture hall in their law school no less. While I was thrilled to be working at the Kennedy Center as an usher,

Except !!!!

When Charles Ludlam, Black Eyed Susan and Ethyl Eichelberger arrived as The Ridiculous Theatre Company in repertory with their CAMILLE, BLUEBEARD and when I starred in their Commedia dell’arte as il Re (the King) outdoors in a steamy humid and hot Washington, DC.

Andrei Serban’s FRAGMENTS OF A TRILOGY at La Mama, the BAM engagement of Josef Szajna in Brooklyn and the debut of Pina Bausch Tanzteatr Wupperthal which was thrilling. All these artistic works had great impact on me as a human being. Joseph Chaikin alluded in a metaphysical way to “presence,” in his book THE PRESENCE OF THE ACTOR.

Theatre is more real to me, and more powerful than any experience which I know, except religion. That brings us back to the notion of ritual and sacrifice which brings us to a our notion of tragedy with the Greeks from Aeschylus to Sophocles, and Euripides. At Ramapo College I staged Sophocles’ ELEKTRA in the auditorium lobby on a home made raked stage (like a ski slope).

What is your favorite film of all time?

Satyricon, Chinatown,
The Godfather,
2001: A Space Odyssey

As a creator, what do you find to be the thing that most drives you to succeed? We like to use this portion for others to learn from you!

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What is your overall dream in life?

Gratitude for achieving this work over many years of struggle.

What’s the title of your current project?

DEATH OF HERCULES

What is your role in the film?

Producer and Director

Who is the director & who is the writer?

Daniel P Quinn and Sophocles

What is the film’s genre?

Greek tragedy

What is the film’s logline?

My productions of Sophocles’ WOMEN OF TRACHIS and Edward Bond’s STONE moved beyond entertainment. In the final scene of STONE the Mason crushes stones which drip blood. Audience members were gasping. In the Sophocles, all of the roles were played by Ellen Lanese.
Her role reversals evoked the basic human impulse of suffering, love, and loss. The day we opened the Sophocles tragedy was the funeral of the mother of my performer. When she spoke to the “mother” in the play, the voices merged and I heard an opening into the soul. This was transgender drama decades ago and today.

What inspired the way that you went about executing this project?

Multi-year process on and Off-Broadway to this short film.
Death of Hercules
1 Selected
2 Award Winner
1 Finalist
1 Semi-Finalist
1 Honorable Mention

What was the most difficult part in the process of creating this film? How did you overcome it?

Money and a lack of post-editing.

What was the most fun part of this entire production?

Our first Award on FilmFreeway

What is the single greatest lesson you learned along the creation of this particular project?

Death of Hercules
1 Selected
2 Award Winner
1 Finalist
1 Semi-Finalist
1 Honorable Mention

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Is there anything else you would like us to know? Or any final thoughts/things you’d like to share with our readers?

Thank you very much.

Thank you so much for being a part of The FILMNET Community, Daniel P! We can’t wait to see what you do next.

THIS HAS BEEN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BROUGHT TO YOU BY

THANK YOU FOR TUNING IN!

Keep up with Daniel P Quinn and all the incredible work to come!

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