David Daniels is an American commercial director, filmmaker, and co-founder (along with Ray Di Carlo and Chel White) of the Portland, Oregon based animation studio Bent Image Lab.[1]
With a master's degree in Animation from The California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts), Daniels' work includes computer (or CG), clay, foam, character, and mixed-media animation.
Early in his career, Daniels animated parts of Pee-wee's Playhouse,[2] and sections of Peter Gabriel's music video "Big Time."[3] David later directed the original twelve M&M's spots, helping define the CGI designs of Yellow, Blue, Red and Green personalities that are still being used decades later. His industry awards include an AICP award, a Clio, Mobius awards and a Daytime Emmy.
David Daniels used a technique called strata-cut animation,[4] [5] [6] a form of clay animation in which internally packed "loaves" of clay are animated in thin slices, revealing the movement of the pre-sculpted images within.[7] Daniels first used the technique of strata-cut in his 1985 film, Buzz Box.[8] Strata-cut was later used in animated segments of the Pee-wee's Playhouse series during the mid-80s, and in the music video for "Big Time" by Peter Gabriel (1986).
In 2008, David Daniels and Bent co-founder Ray Di Carlo co-directed "Hidden Formula",[9] a Coca-Cola television commercial created for the advertising agency Santo, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since 2014, Daniels has also been developing augmented reality.[10] [11]
Daniels' experimental animated film, "Buzz Box Remix" premiered at the 2007 International Film Festival Rotterdam.[12] His Masterclass presentations in person at Santiago, introduced a new generation of animators firsthand to this unconventional art form. In 2017, David Daniels gave a one-man show at the historic Anthology Film Archives in New York City. Guests not only got to see his legacy of work but Daniels also gave an in-person demonstration.[13]