Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Daniels.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve had a fascination with digital media for basically as long as I can remember. In 2003, I was already messing around with Photoshop and soon after starting building websites with Flash, which was then owned by Macromedia (Yes, dating myself)
Senior year of high school my friends and I would make a bunch of videos of mostly skateboarding and pranks. This was the age of before YouTube, where you had to compress the videos locally and host them on your own website for people to watch. Oh, have times changed
My first year of college I went to Binghamton University. While their engineering program is renown, their film program was pretty lackluster. Through my own research and dedication, I was more savvy with the editing software than the teacher was herself. Distraught, I knew it was time to figure something else out.
After some research, I landed on pursuing an actual film school in Manhattan called School of Visual Arts. Here, I learned a good amount of the technical aspects and lingo for being on a proper film set.
After graduating SVA, I was asked by a guy I met filming an event in Vegas if I wanted to move out to Vegas and help him with a startup. New York’s bitter winters, combined with the excitement of this new adventure, made me accept his offer. Within the first 4 months, the startup was abandoned, and I was in a new city with no friends, no money, no car, and now no place to stay. I thought for sure I made a dreaded mistake.
Randomly a week before this news I reached out to a video guy in Vegas named Alex and we agreed to link up casually to chat over a beer. I told him my situation, and he said if I helped him film some of his projects, I could stay in his place until I got back on my feet. Finally, some sort of light in this situation
I lived with Alex for a little over a year, in which I was able to scour Craigslist to take on any possible gig I could. Desperate times I would basically take anything from beauty tutorials to reality TV pilots. Also, at this time, a dude named Seva moved into the house we lived in that did nightlife photography. From time to time, I would go with him, which essentially turned into my main thing. Before I knew it, I was shooting Encore Beach Club, Tao, Tao Beach, Drais, Drais Beach, Light, Daylight, Marquee, you name it. It’s like my camera was a VIP, and I got all access by being with it. I was having a ton of fun but essentially still living paycheck to paycheck
2016 was the year I hit 30. The “What am I doing with my life” question popped up over and over. I never saw myself actually raising a family or doing anything permanent in Las Vegas; I needed a change.
I decided San Diego was my next chapter. I visited here a few times and fell in love with the weather and lifestyle. I started FoxHouse Media in 2017 and re-shifted my focus back to video and offering video marketing services to businesses. Now 7 Years in, things are stronger than ever, and I’m blessed to have amazing clients that I get to film all over the world with
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One of the biggest challenges I had was actually my student debt from film school holding me back. I think I was born at a weird age where a good amount of the material I learned with my expensive degree can be learned today by dedication and practice via YouTube University. Would I recommend anyone go to film school in 2024? Definitely not. $800 a month for over 10 years was not fun
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
What sets FoxHouse Media apart? IMO, the first is a passionate attention to detail when it comes to high-quality content that just looks cinematic and beautiful. I’m a sucker for prime lenses, lens flares, and clean audio. The next is our strategic goal-oriented approach to the whole process. We figure out what makes the most sense for each client’s budget to give a great ROI and work from there.
I personally pride myself on my technical knowledge when it comes to mastering the video, including effects, transitions, titles, motion graphics, color grading, sound effects, audio mixing, and proper compression and delivery. Additionally, staying current with trends is very important, and continually ask how systems can improve each day so we can deliver top-notch content to our clients
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
Probably one of the Luckiest things (besides Alex, who I talked about earlier saving the day in Las Vegas) to ever happen to me was in 2021. I was scrolling through my phone, and I see this video contest by Natty Light (Yes, the beer) to pay off your student loan. The Contest was for $50,000, and I had about $45,000 left
The rules were kind of simple. Submit a video explaining what made you want to go to college. Simple enough, but was it? A felt a huge weight on my shoulder. I reluctantly drove to a Vons to pick up a case of beer for props and filming. Looked everywhere. There was no Natty. Drove to a Ralphs. No Natty. Maybe this wasn’t meant to be. Finally drove to a Bevmo. They had 2 cases left. I left the store empty-handed and sat in my car for about 40 minutes, staring off into space. This video was due in about 3 weeks, and I was Moving out of my apartment in 4 weeks. I had so much stuff to do. I felt the weight thicken, and my palms get sweaty. I knew deep down than anything less than 100% effort was going to be wasted effort. And even 100% effort was a gamble. It was then I pictured myself in 20 years. Would I be proud of myself if I didn’t at least try?
I went back in and bought the cases.
I remember getting an email that said I was a finalist. I was beyond stoked. A few weeks later, getting another email saying I won. I could feel my heart beat hard, and eyes tear up. Still to this day, I look back and am so grateful that all landed into place. What a game-changer. Didn’t grow up with rich parents, but this was the next best thing
Contact Info:
- Website: foxhousemedia.com
- Instagram: kevindaniels
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevindanielsvideo/
