Daniel Falcone

I grew up in Lake Placid, New York, and trained as a figure skater, qualifying and competing at the national level during the mid-1980s. When I wasn’t training six to eight hours a day, I went to the movies. Movies were an escape, particularly during my convalescence from numerous injuries I sustained over the years. What amazed me was how a film came together with all of the elements of moving image, sound, story and dialogue, into a coherent form that kept the viewer engaged. Movies were (and still are) magic to me.

After a hip injury and surgery ended my skating career, I went on to study film and in 1994, earned a BFA from Syracuse University in Film Art, Magna Cum Laud. Todd Haynes was a guest speaker at Syracuse. I met him and we hit it off like two olives in a martini! I moved to New York and worked on the films "Safe" and "Velvet Goldmine." Also, I interned at Killer Films under Christine Vachon on several other projects. To supplement my income, I freelanced as a writer and producer for various web publications and go-go danced at different clubs around the East and West Villages. I loved being a club kid and worked at the infamous Limelight, Pyramid Club and Squeezebox, and whatever event Susanne Bartsch was throwing at the time. I sought adventure in the margins of New York’s underground culture. My errant experiences would serve as the inspiration for one of my feature screenplays.

I wanted to immerse myself in writing and attended Columbia University, where I earned an MFA in Film (screenwriting concentration) in 2006. At Columbia, I wrote “Living In Skin," and it won the 2006 Faculty Selects Award, which brought me to Los Angeles and about twenty-plus meetings. “Skin" was optioned by Here! Network, but a scandal involving senior leadership put the kibosh on that opportunity. Subsequent options followed, with this and that name attached, and it was SO CLOSE to getting made, but the stars just never aligned.

After Columbia, I worked as a film and video editor to pay the bills. It was a fantastic experience! I co-edited a documentary for HBO called The Out List and cut high-profile music videos and TV commercials for such brands as Target, Calvin Klein, and Victoria’s Secret.

After twenty years of living in the city, I needed a quality of life change and moved to Maine with my partner in 2015. Maine immediately felt like home and freed me mentally to focus on writing. I finished an LGBTQ+ feature drama, "Shampoo Horns," a coming-of-age buddy story. Also, I wrote a black comedy, "Dear Prudence," which I submitted to the Female Driven Screenplay Contest. "Prudence" is about how success sometimes isn't solely measured by reaching a predetermined goal, but by the journey down a different path, which might lead to an unexpected positive outcome.

I write mostly on weekends, since I work full time in the marketing department at a local university in Bangor, Maine. Despite moments of crushing doubt, I haven't given up my dream of becoming a signed writer and seeing my work on the screen. Huzzah!