What the filmmaker as well as artist Dan Covert built his creative career

"Nothing's going to make itself," says Dan. "The quickest way to build your name is by making stuff. Even if you're doing a bunch of favors in order to get friends involved with making stuff, that's how you stay in the game as a director."

This ethos has taken Dan to a remarkable career that has seen him win awards from AFI, SXSW, and obviously, Staff Picks. " has shaped our careers,"" Dan tells Dan. "That sounds like a lot of fun, but the truth is that it's so. It's not like we'd have an crowd for the things we've made. We just purchased cameras and began learning how to create things."

Shortly after the release of his first feature documentary " Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life," which won the Audience Award at this year's SXSW and we got a opportunity to talk Dan about his process. Dan about his process and the inspirations he draws for his north stars. Check out highlights from the discussion above and also listen to the entire conversation.

 You started out as graphic designer. What did it take to get you from there to a feature film?

Dan: We started the company in 1996 that was originally a graphic design company that then transformed into a motion graphics business that then became the production business. This is a lengthy process. And all along the way we designed shorts, and many of them were made by staff. Picked on .

We were just experimenting and figuring out what our style was both as a business and as directors. Then I turned 40 and I was thinking, "I'm going to make films someday." And I was thinking, "Maybe I'm not going to create films until I start." Then I searched for stories to tell and this movie kind of came up.

 16 years is a lengthy time for making products in this field. How do you keep going?

Dan The truth is that it's genuinely fun to do this work. Even until recently, I didn't think, "Oh, there's going to be this blow up event where my career is changing and I'm at the Oscars." I don't think about that stuff. The thing is, "Am I having fun at the moment? Are I having fun on the road?"

Because once a project it goes out in the world, you can't control how people react to it. It's just like "Did I do the most effective possible thing I could? Are I spending time and working with people whom I respect and admire? Are we trying to remain genuine and real?" I'm always the several irons in the flame kind of guy. I own a company. I am a commercial director. I've been making this feature film. I'm pretty good at my artistic practice. It's about taking my time and doing things that I enjoy as well as saying, "We'll see where they take us."

It's not that I'm worried about the " where they where they aspect because it could just eat you alive. Since, in the end, do you really care how famous or successful you are? It's like that's not something you'll remember when you're 80.

 What's your creative north star?

Dan Dan: We are constantly working to improve this. However, it's really storytelling acumen. It's craft and visual artistry. And those are kind of vague terms, but there's a lot of meaning. It's like, "Can you tell a tale?" A lot of occasions, people are presented with an unfinished idea and as storytellers, have the task of pulling out the story.

The idea of commercials and art are somewhat contradictory forces - however, not at a high degree. It's more about emotion and how you do that through gorgeous cinematography. However, we all have our own voices. However, what truly excites me is character and story.

 What can you do to work with a brand without compromising the vision you have for your brand?

Dan In the beginning I thought that it was something like "Oh, they're hiring me to perform the tasks they require." Then, as time went on, I realized "No, they're hiring me to help them and I know what I'm doing." So it was a major shift trying to understand the needs of the business as well as what their vision was. It's not a bad thing however, the higher and more I've progressed as an executive, I've realized that they're coming to you with a personal voice, to sort through all this stuff and to say, "What you guys need to accomplish is this."

 Are there brands you're still hoping to collaborate with?

Dan The reason I say that is difficult because I really don't take interest in that kind of stuff. The question is, "Is it a fun or interesting task?" Some of the most boring assignments that I've been given have transformed into some of the most enjoyable works. I did a film centered on a type historian from Syracuse, it's the type historian's Staff Pick video we did. It was like this dude who lived trapped in a basement, and he discovered this font, and Pentagram turned it into the official logo of Syracuse University. That guy's amazing. I'd like to speak to those like him.

Everyone would like to work in Nike as well as all the amazing brands. Sure that is fun, however, I like discovering these unique stories and kind of giving them an opportunity.

I have never been taught how to be a director. So it was a huge affirmation for me as an artist to have 300,000 people within the span of a few days to see this film that we produced. And it's like, "Oh, my God." You know what I'm talking about? It wasn't made in the form of a short film. It was made as a project for our client and we re-edited it a bit, which I then saw the audience.

 Dress Code has been on for quite a long time. What is it that keeps you on the platform?

Dan: It just seems to be the place where every creator is who view our work. The majority of these things in the world of short films We're self-funding in the sense of throwing out little trials balloons. Then other creators look at the balloons. The results are always surprising. A representative from an agency will call and be such as, "Hey, we saw the thing. Could you create the commercial campaign on our behalf?" It's like a one-to-one. When we're working such a way, then the appropriate people are seeing it and then kind of elevating it and giving us a platform.

 Where do you find source of inspiration?

Dan Dan: I find the most ideas for my work from artwork. Actually, I don't go through the same amount of video. I find that it's kind exhausting, and I want to mimic things, so I just look for things that are very different from what we normally do or look into feature docs for commercials or look at the fine arts for framing or visually-based methods.

 What's the best advice you've received?

Dan: There's a quote from Steve Martin where he says, "Be so good that they won't be able to be able to ignore you." The way I've seen it is that I've loved that. This is similar to how most people would like this quick fix of just to make something and the next thing they know it's done. Where for me it's more simply about gradually putting the time into building an entire body of work and then being so great that people will come across you.