Welcome to the Film!

Hello,

My name is Daniel Mavromihelakis and I am the Director of this documentary film. For this initial post, I wanted to introduce myself and the project to give you a baseline of who I am and why this project is so important to me. So, to begin with, I am a Graduate student at Sheridan in the Advanced Film and Television program. I take part in a master class on directing and one in camera and lighting as these are avenues in which I find great passion and would like to pursue in the film industry. For our final project we were tasked to make a 10-minute project to showcase the learning process from this program. After teaming up with the talented and enthusiastic Carter Purtelle and Caitlin Mackay as the producers for the film we unanimously decided to venture into the mind of the Daredevil, with focus on those pursuing the Niagara Falls drop. Carter was a large proponent of this idea getting traction to begin with as he did a lot of the groundwork on the project before it had any light. So, when he and Cait brought it to me I was blown away with the concept.

For some back story, as an Ontario child, the Niagara Falls destination was a frequent Summer trip of mine and my families. At the age of 8 years old I was led onto a “ride” of sorts that consisted of a simulation on getting in a large barrel and plummeting over the falls. As a child I believed the whole experience was real and cried and made whole scene because I was confident we would not survive the experience. When the ride was over, and the trauma had subsided, I became obsessed with how one could do such a feat. I was a child, but I truly couldn’t comprehend how anyone could get into a contraption and plummet over the falls willingly. Why would they do such a thing? This question stayed with me and I believe is a large reason for my drive to understand the psychology surrounding different situations and events and those involved. So, when the documentary idea was mentioned to me, I was in love with the idea of what it could be and will be and had to get aboard.

I could finally find some form of an answer for that question I had back when I was 8 years old.

After teaming up with the producers, we set to fill up the rest of the team with individuals just as passionate as us. First to join was Eamon Hillis, a strong camera student and even stronger writer who immediately had ideas of how to navigate the storytelling. From the camera team Kushagra Agarwal and Harrison Thannippilly Justin joined up. Kush took the DOP position as we had worked previously and developed a friendship where I witnessed his immense skill handling a camera. Harry took the role as his assistant and similarly was a frequent collaborator of mine and his strong technical know how and enthusiasm made him perfect for the role. From the audio team Ethan Southpaw and Daniel Robertson. Ethan had worked with me previously on another documentary as the mixer and his quiet demeanor and strong audio knowledge made him a no brainer or the role of Mixer. Danny has worked with me frequently as well, although he keeps quite silent, he has demonstrated time and time again his strong understanding of the fundamentals behind audio which made him a must have for this team.

I believe this team to be the best I could have asked for and their passion for the project already has shown. I am very excited going forward to see what we create together as a team!

Daniel