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

"Nothing's going to make itself by itself," Dan says. Dan. "The fastest way to establish your career is just keep making stuff. If it's just performing a lot of work to friends who make things to keep active as a filmmaker."

It's an ethos that has taken Dan through a career, with a plethora of awards including AFI, SXSW, and the obvious Staff Picks. " made our careers," Dan tells Dan. "That sounds crazy, but it's true. It's not like we'd have an crowd for this stuff. We bought cameras and started learning to make things."

Just a few days after the publication of his first feature film " Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life," which won the Audience Award at this year's SXSW and we got a opportunity to talk with Dan about his creative process and his creative north stars. Take a look at highlights from the discussion above and also read the full conversation below.

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

Dan: We started an organization 16 years ago that was originally a graphic design company that then transformed into a motion graphics business and then an production company. This is a lengthy process. And all along the way we created shorts and many of these were staff Picked to be worn .

We just started experimenting and learning what our voice was both as a business and as directors and then I turned 40 and was always like, "I'm going to make films one day." And I was like, "Maybe I'm not going to create films until I get started." That's why I was looking for stories and this film kind of was born.

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

Dan: It's just genuinely entertaining to be doing this job. Up until recently, I was not thinking, "Oh, there's going to be a big blow-up time when my career shifts and I'm attending the Oscars." I don't think about that stuff. I'm just thinking, "Am I having fun at the moment? Do I enjoy the journey?"

Because once a project it is released to the public it is impossible to control the way people react to it. This is like asking "Did I create the greatest product I could? Do I spend time with working alongside people I love and respect? Are we trying to be honest and authentic?" I'm always the many irons on the stove type of person. I run a business. I am a commercial director. I've been making this feature film. I'm quite successful in my art practice. It's about slowly just doing these things that I enjoy as well as saying, "We'll see where they go."

But I'm not as interested in the ' where they go' portion because it can just eat you alive. In the end, who cares whether you're famous or successful? That's probably not something you'll remember when you're 80.

 What's your creative north star?

Dan Dan: We are constantly refining this, but the real issue is storytelling. It's craft and visual artistry. And those are kind of vague terms, but there's a lot of value. The same way, "Can you tell a tale?" A lot of times people come with an unfinished idea that we, as storytellers are in the process of squeezing the story.

The idea of commercials and art, they're somewhat opposing forces however, not at a high degree. The focus is on emotion and expressing that emotion with stunning cinematography. We all possess our own unique voice. But the stuff that really makes me smile is story telling and character.

 How can you collaborate with a brand without compromising the vision you have for your brand?

Dan When I first started, I thought that it was as if "Oh, they're hiring me to do what they need." Then, as time went on, I realized "No They're actually hiring me for help and I know what I'm doing." So it was an enormous shift trying to understand what their needs were and what their aesthetic was. That's still obviously important, but then the more and more I've climbed as a director, I realized that people are coming to you with a personal voice, to sort out all the issues and say, "What you guys need to do will be this."

 Are there any brands that you're still hoping to partner with?

Dan: I think that's difficult because I really don't care about that stuff. The question is, "Is it a fun, interesting project?" Some of the tasks that have been the most boring I've had to complete have become the most interesting pieces. I made a short film that revolved around a type historian at Syracuse It's a Staff Pick video we did. It's like this guy who lived trapped in a basement, and he discovered this font, and Pentagram transformed it into the symbol for Syracuse University. The guy's incredible. I'd like to speak to individuals like him.

Everyone would like to work in Nike as well as all the fantastic brands. It's a lot of fun however, I like discovering interesting stories that are unique and the pleasure of presenting them on a stage.

I've never had the opportunity to be a director. It was an enormous satisfaction for me as a filmmaker that 300,000 people in the span of a few days to see the film we created. And it's like, "Oh, my God." What do I mean? We didn't even make it as a film. The film was created for a client project and only slightly edited it and then I noticed this crowd.

 Dress Code is on for a very long time. What is it that keeps you from leaving the platform?

Dan Dan: It's as if it's the one platform that everyone's creators are able to see what we've done. The majority of these things is short-film related We're self-funding in the sense of putting out these little trial balloons, and then other creators look at them. The results are always surprising. Somebody from an ad agency may call and say like, "Hey, we saw this thing. Can you do this commercial project on our behalf?" It's like a one to one. If we're putting work out such a way, then the appropriate people are seeing it and then kind of elevating it by giving us a platform.

 Where do you find inspiration?

Dan: I get the greatest motivation for my work via art. Actually, I don't go through a ton of videos anymore. It's sort exhausting, and I'm tempted to copy certain things. I look for ways to make things outside of what we do or look into feature docs for commercials or even look into frames and visually-based methods.

 What's the best advice you've received?

Dan: There's a quote of Steve Martin where he says, "Be so good that they can't be able to ignore you." I've always been awed by that. This is similar to how many people are looking for the quick fix to make something and the next thing they know it's finished. Where for me it's more simply about gradually investing the time and effort into building the foundation of a work and then being so good that someone will find your work.