Daniel is an Emmy-nominated Co-Executive Producer who has written for Sweet Tooth (Netflix), Swamp Thing (WB/DC), and Stephen King’s The Mist (Spike/Paramount). He and his writing partner Noah Griffith have sold TV & feature projects to Netflix, Sony/Columbia, Lionsgate and Screen Gems.
(Check out Daniel’s Tip about Being Honest With Yourself As A Writer).
Daniel grew up in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, where despite hating the frigid winters, he attended the University of Minnesota where he studied mathematics for far too long. But math wasn’t his thing after all. As soon as he graduated, he decided to become a screenwriter and made the terrifying decision to move to Los Angeles. It was 2010.
He got a day job working at Sony Pictures just before running out of his savings. Around that same time, he began writing with Noah and, for the next five years, they honed their craft. Hoping to stand out somehow, they scraped together enough money to make a short film entitled Fragment in 2015, which landed them their first manager. And in 2016, Daniel and Noah got their start as staff writers on the adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist. The same year, their original spec feature screenplay Rise Atlantis was named as one of the Hit List’s best unproduced screenplays of the year.
Daniel and Noah made the Hit List again in 2017 with their original spec feature screenplay Fragment, based on their short film of the same name, before selling it to Sony/Columbia Pictures. Additionally, they were featured on the 2017 Young & Hungry list of best upcoming writers.
That same year, the duo sold their original feature pitch Border Patrol to James Wan’s Atomic Monster, which is currently set up at Screen Gems with Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down) attached to direct. Then in 2018, Daniel and Noah joined the staff of the live-action adaptation of Swamp Thing for Executive Producers James Wan (The Conjuring), Gary Dauberman (It), and Mark Verheiden (Battlestar Galactica). Daniel and Noah also served as the on-set producers for the final four episodes.
At that same time, the duo were also hired by Atomic Monster and Peter Safran (Aquaman) to write an original horror feature. Following that, Daniel and Noah were brought on to rewrite Smart House for Lionsgate with Alexander Aja (Crawl) attached to direct.
In 2020, Daniel and Noah joined the staff of Sweet Tooth, the adaption of Jeff Lemire’s graphic novel for Netflix, Executive Produced by Susan and Robert Downey, Jr. (Avengers) alongside showrunner Jim Mickle (Cold In July). Daniel and Noah also served as Co-EPs and on-set writers in for production in New Zealand.
To date, the first two seasons of Sweet Tooth have received a total of 20 Emmy nominations, including for Outstanding Writing. All three seasons have premiered at #1 in the world on Netflix.
When not writing, Daniel is probably thinking about writing — or watching Gordon Ramsay yell at terrified cooks. He and his partner live in Chinatown and travel often. Destination suggestions are welcome. He is repped at CAA.
Testimonials
Boy, did I hit the jackpot with Dan at Script Anatomy! On day one, he set the tone, linking having fun with challenging ourselves and focusing on growth versus outcome. This resulted in a safe environment to learn. Dan’s care for each of our scripts and his understanding of structure and story leveled up everyone’s writing in a relatively short period of time.
An example of Dan’s ability to pass on knowledge was when he broke down sample action lines. It brought clarity to why each word was on the page in a way I had never heard explained before.
But, most of all, Dan was so entertaining!
—Laurie Ann Curtis
Dan was fantastic. He really got what I was trying to say with my script and gave incredibly helpful notes—both macro and micro. He also managed to reframe a few concepts I’d heard before in a way that finally made them click. I’ve already found myself applying what I learned in the lab not just to the script I took through it, but to everything I’m working on.
But more than that, I walked away from the class with a clearer understanding of my own voice. His feedback helped me trust instincts I’d been hesitant to lean into, and that shift alone has made me a better writer
— Rina O’Malley