Episode 17: Daniel Watt

Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker Daniel Watt is in the studio for this episode! Dan is producer and director of the award-winning documentary “Everybody Dance” — currently available on iTunes, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime, which is offering it for free in recognition of the month of July as Disability Pride Month.

The film follows five kids with different disabilities and their families as well as their dance teacher, Bonnie Schlachte, as they prepare for their end of year recital. Bonnie is founder and director of Ballet For All Kids, a non-profit program that teaches classical ballet and other dance styles using The Schlachte Method - a certified curriculum developed by Bonnie to accommodate all abilities, body types, and learning styles in ballet. The film explores how dance has changed the lives of these kids and many others studying through Bonnie’s organization.

“Everybody Dance” won in the category of best direction of a documentary at the 2023 Chita Rivera Awards. It was a 2022 Cleveland International Film Festival nominee, premiered at the 2024 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and most recently, was nominated for an Emmy in the independent programming category in Los Angeles.

Dan began his dance career in Cleveland, Ohio, and continued studying in New York City and Los Angeles. He performed with the Joffrey Ballet in Los Angeles before transitioning into a career in film, in which he spent five years in film development at Columbia Pictures and five years working at Syco Entertainment, a London-headquartered music, television, and film production company founded by Simon Cowell with Sony Music Entertainment. Dan has previously worked on the 2013 documentary “One Direction: This Is Us” and was a producer on the award-winning documentary “The Center: Gibbons and Guardians.”

He joined the podcast to talk about the process of creating “Everybody Dance,” his dance and film career, the importance of taking risks and following your passion, and what projects he’s working on next. Check it out!

• Watch Everybody Dance for free on Amazon Prime for Disability Pride Month: https://www.amazon.com/Everybody-Dance-Bonnie-Schlachte/dp/B0B5KLD2JD
• Follow Everybody Dance documentary on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everybodydancedoc
• Follow Daniel Watt on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dancindanw
• Learn more about Bonnie Schlachte and Ballet for All Kids: https://www.balletforallkids.com/

Vote for The Adult Ballet Studio in the arts category for The People's Choice Podcast Awards! Voting ends July 31. ⁠https://www.podcastawards.com/app/signup⁠

Music in this episode:

Waltz of the Flowers - Tchaikovsky

Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light - Kevin MacLeod

Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100310

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

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