NEWS
Micro Interview: Daniel Rashid
In Hey Katie This is Josh, a guy struggles to call a girl he recently met.
Film Pittsburgh speaks with screenwriter Daniel Rashid about filmmaking, his youtube channel, and his upcoming projects.
Film Pittsburgh: If “Hey Katie This is Josh” were the offspring of two other films, who are its parents?
Daniel Rashid: Hmm...maybe The Perks of Being a Wallflower meets This is John? This is John is a simple yet very moving short film by the Duplass brothers that actually inspired me to make this short. I had been sitting on the idea for the short, thinking it was too simple, too overdone, and then I saw This is John and thought, "oh, simple is good! Who cares if it feels 'overdone'—you have your own unique voice, so just tell the dang story!"
FP: What do you find unique about working in short film?
DR: How economical you have to be. There's no time to waste when you only have a few minutes. I do a lot of sketch comedy through my YouTube/FunnyOrDie channel Giggle Break and those are all 2-4 minute videos. When you only have a few minutes, you have to get the essential information out quickly, all while hooking the viewer and taking them on a ride. You can't do that if you are dilly-dallying with unessential dialogue/information. I imagine it's good training to making feature films, since the same principles should apply—there's no time to waste, even when you have 90 minutes.
FP: Any wisdom for aspiring filmmakers?
DR: Make your film. Don't wait for anyone to give you permission to tell your story. If you want to be a filmmaker, be that: a film maker.
FP: What upcoming projects are you working on?
DR: A wide assortment of projects! I've had the pleasure of acting in a few feature films that will be coming out soon—Bodied, You Can Choose Your Family, Beast Beast—and I also have a number of shorts and sketches I'm in the process of writing/producing. You can catch my music video directorial debut with Eva B. Ross' new song "Nick's House," (coming soon) and stay up to date with everything else on Instagram, Twitter, or on my website!
FP: What are you looking forward to about visiting Pittsburgh?
DR: I know next-to-nothing about Pittsburgh, so I'm looking forward to learning about the city, the history, the culture—one of the things I love about traveling to film festivals is meeting both filmmakers from around the world and people from the city the festival is hosted in!