about the director

I am a 24-year-old screenwriter and director, founder of Disc Jockey Productions. I graduated from Swarthmore College in 2006 with a double major in History and Film & Media Studies, and participated in NYU: Tisch School of the Arts BBC program in London in 2004.

While at Swarthmore I took an interdisciplinary approach to my study of film, combining production methods with work in theatre and history to discover how media could be applied to different fields of study. My goal is to find a way to use media to educate those members of society who wouldn't ordinarily seek out certain information. I want to make films (documentaries, dramas, historical fictions), that are entertaining and educational, in that they make the audience think about something new. Down with the floating-head sleep-inducing documentary! We must revolt- we must make the study of life and history, in movies, interesting!

My documentary credits include: Mind at Large Production's Crossing the Lines (2003), Disc Jockey Production's Warmothers: 2002 (2003), the BBC's Winston Churchill and his Art (2004), and Tweeter Production's RAPP: Family Portraits (2006) (National Winner of the National Extension Assoc. for Family and Consumer Sciences 2006 award). I am currently directing, producing, and editing a series of free-lance documentaries for Cornell University Cooperative Extension, an educational not-for-profit seeking increased governmental funds for their human development projects. Check out their programs!

I've written, directed, and edited a number of fictional shorts, which include: Brighton Rocks Production's Trace Elements (2004), Tweeter Production's The Rock Pocket (2006), and Emily Conlon's Dot Zero (2007). Currently, I am directing a 35-minute video through a SAG short film agreement, titled Triptych.

Dana R. Variano

EDUCATION______________________________________________________

Swarthmore College

Double Major in Film & Media Studies and History

NYU: Tisch School of the Arts BBC Program

Study Abroad program culminating in an internship at the British Broadcasting Corporation.

BBC Training and Development Courses

EXPERIENCE______________________________________________________

Teacher/Director, Cornell Univ. Cooperative Extension

Teach, direct, shoot, and edit documentary projects for community “Relatives as Parents Program.”

Intern, Court TV’s Catherine Crier Live, Texas SWAT

Shadowed producers and conducted research for live news program and docudrama Texas SWAT.

Intern, Highway 61, New York, NY

Assisted with production, research, and planning for a small commercial production company.

Production Crew, Community/College Theatre

Assistant Stage Management, Lighting Design/Operation, Set Design, Audio Design/Operation.

Researcher, BBC’s Lest We Forget: Churchill, London

Scouted locations, contacted guests, researched stills and archive footage for a thirty-minute

documentary in the Specialist Factual department.

Disc Jockey, WSRN 91.5, Swarthmore, PA (Sept 2002-Dec 2005)

Wrote, produced, and hosted live comedy talk show weekly.

FILMMAKING_____________________________________________________

Director, Writer, Director of Photography, Editor for:

Trace Elements

The Rock Pocket

Duck Duck Dog

RAPP Family Portraits

In Progress:

Triptych

SKILLS__________________________________________________________

Final Cut Pro, Adobe PhotoShop, Final Draft, ProTools, Philips LDK 100 (DVC pro) camera, Sony VX-2100 camcorder, Yamaha DM-1000 mixer, 16-mm projection equipment.