From a very early age this product of Jersey City, New Jersey wanted to be in the business of Hip-Hop. Starting as an audio engineer in popular New York City clubs, DanTheMan got to work with acts like Run-DMC and an emerging Jay-Z. It was through engineering Dan fell into the dot com industry by accident, working as chief engineer at the fledgling internet radio network, Pseudo Programs and their now legendary 88 Hip-Hop Show gave him the opportunity to work with more Hip-Hop artists such as an early Marshall Mathers and the Wu-tang Clan. Seeing the opportunity to produce video content, Dan, then the youngest executive producer at the network helmed his own show the KoolOut, a program showcasing a variety of urban music and with its’ success led Dan to the production of more than 10 original shows at the diverse company. Unfortunately the floor fell from under the dotcom industry and Dan took his learning’s about broadcasting on the internet and along with partner Jonathan Shecter, founding editor of The Source, started RapNetwork.com, one of the Internets’ first audio and video streaming sites for Hip-Hop content and news. By producing the video content for the site, Dan finds his love in being behind the camera. During that time Dan forged a relationship with a DJ named Whoo Kid who was starting to rise to street acclaim with his mixed CDs. Whoo Kid soon becomes the DJ for popular street rapper 50 Cent. Dan, never forgetting his engineering roots, recorded and edited all of the G-Unit mix-tapes with Whoo Kid.
Together, DJ Whoo Kid and DanTheMan created Rewind, the first hip-hop DVD magazine. Rewind’s debut boasted a number 34 chart position on Billboard’s Pop chart and the number 1 independent release for 3 straight weeks. Dan then became go-to director for G-Unit Records and helmed documentaries and music videos for M.O.P., Young Buck, Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, Mobb Deep as well as directing every video on 50 Cent’s Massacre DVD.
Currently Dan is directing videos for many of Hip-Hop’s top artists; from Rick Ross to Maino – “Hi Hater”, his videos have been charting on MTV and BET as well as getting tens of millions of hits online. He has won awards as well as getting industry accolades from MTV, XXL, Fader, and countless other media.
Dan Has been innovating guerrilla style music video production for many years, his hands on approach brings unprecedented insight and skill to the craft. He personally produces, directs, edits, and shoots taking many projects on through his production company Fresh Air Films which has amassed tons of equipment from cutting edge HD cameras to lighting, lenses, a jib, and Steadicam which he personally operates. Dan also collaborated with Graffiti Research Lab and created a time slicing device dubbed the Ghetto Matrix which can sometimes be seen on his shoots.
