Ever heard of the phrase “movie magic?” The graphics, costumes and everything in between? Making magic happen is what Miami High alumnus Mr. Daniel Davila does for a living.

Movie Magic

   As a production designer, Mr. Davila, or Danny as he prefers to be called, is in charge of everything one sees on camera, except for the people.

“The clothes the characters wear, the furniture in the room, what the room looks like, special effects or stunts, anything people hold in their hands, or any custom stuff you see on screen is all under my supervision,” he said.

Danny enjoys everything he does. “Every day is magical, I get to create the coolest stuff in the world,” he said. “The fact that millions and millions and hundreds of millions of people get to see what I do is awesome.”

The best part of being a production designer for him is seeing the finished product. “It amazes me that I get to see what I thought of in my head as an actual thing.”

Being a production designer, however, does come with its challenges. “Difficult times for me at work are usually due to lack of sleep or being nervous that we won’t be able to meet a deadline,” he said. However, that kind of nervous energy drives him to be better, work faster, and try harder.

Danny believes that success is doing something that you love and being able to support yourself financially doing so full time. He owes his success to all his hard work, his general understanding of how films are made, and complete dedication to his projects.

He never worries about who takes the credit. “As long as it was my idea that made it happen, so be it. Pride is a horrible thing to have,” he said.

Rockin’ it with the Class of ‘02

While at Miami High, Danny was very active. He was in varsity football, water polo, wrestling, WMHS, athletic club (AC), , Students Against Destructive Decisions (S.A.D.D.), Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), and J.R.O.T.C.

“My favorite memories from Miami High were the friends that I made,” he said. “Everything about Miami High was amazing.”

His favorite classes were Chemistry, AP European History and TV Production, and his favorite teachers were World History teacher Mr. Tornillo, TV Production Advisor Dr. Underwood and former coach Mr. Dodd.

Dr. Underwood taught Danny to give back and to do a good job. Each one of his coaches taught him that being a part of a team means that everyone has to do their job and has to trust that everyone will do their job. “Delegation is a huge part of being a leader and I learned that at Miami High,” said Danny.

Early on in high school Danny wanted to go to the University of Miami to play football. However, when he discovered TV Production and Film, everything changed, “From that point on, film was everything to me,” he said.

Before the Magic

After graduating from Miami High, he began working on commercials and music videos. Meanwhile, he had a job working for City of Miami Commissioner Joe Sanchez and then worked for Mayor Manny Diaz in the Office of Film and Cultural Affairs under Mr. Robert Parente. After working for five years for the City of Miami, Danny started to work with the crew of the TV show Burn Notice.

“I learned many things and went up the ladder of the art department while working on Burn Notice,” he said.

Loving What You Do, and Doing What You Love

Danny’s work day is anywhere from 14 to 16 hours long. While on a project, he can easily do more than 85 hours in a week.

At 32, Danny is very satisfied with his career track. “My hard work and dedication have led me to become a production designer, whereas most production designers don’t get to the position I’m in until they’re in their mid to late 40’s,” he said.

In Danny’s opinion, the top skills needed to be a successful production designer are knowledge of architecture, fashion, interior design, and in graphic design.

In ten years, he sees himself doing exactly what he’s doing now. “Once you become a production designer, that’s pretty much the top of the ladder in the Art Department,” he said. “However, since I’m at the top, I’ll probably try to continue to work on making myself a better designer. A better film maker. Learning and growing,” he said. “But the truth is I love what I do, a lot, so I can do this for the rest of my life,” he said.

Danny just completed the first season of the first ever Snap Chat television series called Tycoon which will air in 2017. He is also working on a movie called Vandal which is an original fictional drama about graffiti artists in Miami. “I’m due to finish that movie in December, and I don’t know what I’ll work on next, but I have an agent, Julian Savodivker, that works very hard to find me cool new gigs to work on so I’m sure he’ll be able to get me something for the beginning of next year.

“I wouldn’t be here without you.”

Danny realizes many people have contributed to his success. “Dr. Underwood convinced me to take TV production and [his AV Tech] Mr. Nelson ‘Shadow’ Cartaya were always there when I needed to borrow a camera at weird hours of the day,” he said. Also, he credits Mr. Robert Parente for introducing him to EK, one of the producers of Burn Notice.

Last but not least, he would like to thank his parents, friends and family who have always supported his dreams and have always been understanding of the fact that “what I do means I can’t be around like normal people and that I usually don’t have much time to myself or for my family and friends.”

Danny, The Magic Man

Daniel Davila was born a Capricorn on January 7^th, 1984 in Mercy Hospital. Danny’s father was born in Sangua La Grande, Cuba, while his mother was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. He describes his family as supportive, loving, and respectful. Danny’s favorite show is Burn Notice because he worked on it for so long, while his favorite movie is The Notebook.

If he could talk to one person from history, it would be Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “He was a very powerful man, not only because of everything that he did with the Civil Rights Movement but because he taught people about being decent adults and about patience,” said Danny. Dr. King, according to Danny, knew that anything that was worth believing in was worth doing right and worth having the patience to see happen the way he wanted it to.

For any Stings that are interested in the film production industry, Danny has this advice: work until you can’t work anymore. “You have to learn until there is nothing else to learn, and when there is nothing left to learn, work a little more and learn a little more, then repeat that process,” he said.

He believes there is always something new to learn and that one can never work hard enough to be perfect. He said, “If you practice perfection, then when you make a mistake, it’ll still be better than what other people do. To be the best, you have to beat the best. Many people want to be the boss, but don’t want to put in the hard work to become the boss.”

However, he does not believe being the boss should be the goal in life. Instead, it should be to be the best you can at whatever you’re doing. “If you’re the best at what you do, then you will always be successful,” he said.

See more of Danny’s work at: http://danielitodavila.com/

 Photo by Lara Hickox