E04 - Catalyst Spotlight: Daniel Willis

Daniel is a writer/director who draws on his experience growing up on Chicago’s south side. He is a 2018 Film Independent Project Involve Directing Fellow and 2017 Sony Pictures Television Directing Fellow. His short films and television projects have screened at festivals around the world including The HBO Short Film Competition at ABFF, Urbanworld Film Festival, The Global Impact Film Festival, The LA Film Festival, The Chicago International Television Festival, SeriesFest (Best Writing - Public Housing Unit), The New York Television Festival, and ITVFest (Best of Fest - Public Housing Unit). Wednesday, Daniel’s latest short film, has been licensed by HBO. Daniel’s TV directing credits include ABC’s The Rookie, NBC’s The Blacklist, and ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. On the writing front, Daniel recently served as Story Editor for two Lena Waithe produced comedy series: Twenties and Boomerang. Daniel will next direct 2 episodes of the new Freeform drama Cruel Summer. Wanna know how directing TV is different from film or how Daniel built on his Best of Fest win with us? Tune in to find out! This program is brought to you by Catalyst Storieroad's partners: the National Academy of TV Arts & Sciences and WDSE-WRPT Duluth, in collaboration with our individual donors.