Director and Writer at AFIN

Biography

With 20 years of onset experience, Dan really just fell into the Hollywood film industry because of his extensive Martial Arts and bodyguarding experience. Dan was discovered on the set of Dark Angel by 2nd unit Director Mike Mitchell where he was running a team of 4, bodyguarding Jessica Alba. Dan is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt and a former professional fighter under the UFC legend Frank Shamrock. He also holds Instructor certification under the world-renowned Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Martial Arts Guru's, Ron Balicki and Diana Lee Inosanto. Dan is also the founding member of the M1 Fight Design community. What makes Dan unique with his fight choreography is his ability to draw from so many arts. Specifically the Filipino Art of Kali, where he specializes in Panatukan, Silat, single and double blade work and the mysterious Indonesian Sarong/Mahjong. Dan has risen to the challenge that the film industry brings with it and has broken barriers and taken giant leaps, never looking behind. Performing first as a Stuntman, Dan was quickly recognized for his unique fighting techniques and started getting hired as a Fight Choreographer, soon after. Recently Dan was hired as the Fight Coordinator/Choreographer on Netflix's TV's hit show Wu Assassins. Dan is working on Joe Carnahan's latest film, Boss Level, as the Fight Coordinator. Staring his Directing career Dan has been hired as a Director for several commercials and music videos, 2 of which have included Grammy Award-winning artists and producers. He has also started a production company called Cerebral Monkey Entertainment after 4 years of building, learning, and shadowing, and has now completed writing, producing and directing his first full-length Feature Film. It is called TORN, and is about a white police officer that shoots and kills a black teen and gets off the charges. What happens next is unlike anything you've seen in this type of film. Be on the lookout for its release, late 2019. When not working on set he can be found travelling the globe teaching seminars and training his own students at the M1 Fight Design Academy. Dan feels he is a Martial Artist before everything else that has fallen in love with the film industry.