Daniel Hirsh

Daniel Hirsh (born May 18, 1982, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American actor, voice over artist, video editor, director, cinematographer, graphic designer, writer, and producer. Hirsh has acted in and directed several World Premiere theatrical productions, and his editing work on short- and feature-length films have won awards at several festivals. Hirsh has trained as a videographer, actor, singer, and improvisational comedian, currently continuing work in Milwaukee, New York City, Atlanta and St. Louis. Working mainly with Atlanta filmmaker and entertainer Parthiban Shanmugam, other collaborators include Wade Ballance, Philip Barrett, Kevin L. Powers, and Thomas Smugala. Influenced by French videographer and university lecturer Pier Marton and screenwriter Richard Chapman, he has focused his career on narrative filmmaking, while also piecing together documentaries on energy healing, life after death and astral projection. He currently resides in New York City due to his interest in The New York Presbyterian Hospital which utilizes energy healing, and proximity to The Monroe Institute and University of Virginia, both of which partake in astral projection and consciousness research.

Editorial, Production, Direction and Cinematography Work

 * Kent Rapeen: A True Story (2001) as Writer, Editor, Director, Producer and Cinematographer
 * Highly Experimental (2001) as Writer, Editor, Director, Producer and Cinematographer
 * The Writer (2002) as Writer, Editor, Director, Lighting Technician, Producer and Cinematographer
 * As The World Turns (Episode #1.11867, 2002) as Production Assistant
 * Between Lust and Brookings Drive (2003) as Editor, Trailer Editor and Assistant Camera
 * With Only a Belle (2004) as Editor
 * Chosen (2004) as Editor
 * Apocalypse and the Beauty Queen (2005) as Editor, Title Designer and Titles & Opticals
 * Shadow (2007) as Editor and Trailer Editor
 * Insanity du Jour (2007) as Off-Line Editor
 * How's Your Cart (2007) as Editing Consultant
 * The HusBand (2008) as Editor, Trailer Editor and First Assistant Camera
 * Motion Music (2008) as Editor, Assistant Camera and Casting Director
 * Spectre (2008) as Editor and Cinematographer
 * Patriot (2008) as Editor and Cinematographer
 * Regret (2008) as Executive Producer
 * You're Rejected (2008) as Editor, Trailer Editor, DVD Author and DVD Box Art Designer
 * Even Cactus Goes to Heaven (2009) as Editor and Trailer Editor
 * Bleeder (2009) as Editor and Editing Consultant
 * Vendetta (2009) as Editor and Cinematographer
 * Alone (2010) as Assistant Editor
 * The Ballad of Robert and Harvey (2010) as Editor
 * Miss Kitty & Me (2011) as Editor
 * 3 Cats and a Man (2012) as First Assistant Editor
 * A Letter to a Terrorist (2013) as Editor
 * The Little Jihadist (2014) as First Assistant Editor
 * Paper Planes (2014) as Editor
 * Men of a Certain Age (2017) as Editor

You're Rejected propelled Hirsh, Shanmugam and lead actor George Lee Clark to national and international recognition, winning "Official Selection" from the Filmböro Film Festival, "Honorable Mention" at the Philadelphia International Film Festival & Market, "Official Selection" at the AIAFF Film Festival, and "Official Selection" at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival.

Film and Television Acting

 * Highly Experimental (2001) as narrator
 * Making Revolution (2003) as Activist
 * Between Lust and Brookings Drive (2003) as The Man
 * With Only a Belle (2004) as himself
 * Hooch & Daddy-O (2005) as Fan
 * October Road (2007) as Townie & Bartender
 * You're Rejected (2008) as himself
 * Van Wilder: Freshman Year (2009) as Parent of Graduate
 * 3 Cats and a Man (2012) as himself
 * Pikuach Nefesh: Saving Daniel (2016) as himself
 * Messiah (2017) as Friend 1
 * Broadcast (2022) as Meredith's Assistant
 * Mob Times (2022) as Mikey Hand Soap

Theatrical Acting
Hirsh's acting style has been described as amusing, comic, and quirky. His complexion and physical appearance have been compared to John Belushi, Jon Lovitz, and Steve Zissis, with a comic voice comparable to Nathan Lane's. He prefers the Practical Aesthetics school of thought, pioneered by David Mamet, William H. Macy and Robert Bella; having taken a summer intensive course there in 2004, alongside Anna Chlumsky and Lucy DeVito. He has actively participated in various other acting styles and techniques.

Hirsh starred as himself in an improvised Thesis project directed by Washington University senior Lora Ivanova in 2003. I See (You See) was a one-act play starring five actors, one of which would be audience-voted to strap a video camera to their head while playing out suggestions for improvisational scenes. The piece, mostly comic, was met with positive reception.

Hirsh's most notable performance was his portrayal of Sir Vashya Shontine in Tennessee Williams' one-act play, Me, Vashya, written in 1937 during the playwright's short tenure at Washington University. The complete script was later published in the compilation The Magic Tower and Other One-Act Plays by publisher New Directions. Me, Vashya was performed as a World Premiere production with The Glass Menagerie as part of the Washington University in St. Louis Tennessee Williams Symposium in February 2004.

Hirsh's third World Premiere production, Six Seconds in Charlack, by Washington University alumni Brian Golden premiered on April 28 of 2005. Charlack was later performed on New York City's Off-Off-Broadway circuit at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center in August 2009.

Theatrical Performances


 * The Wizard and the Shepherdess (1998) as narrator
 * All in the Timing (2001) as Don
 * Alice in Wonderland (2002) as Humpty Dumpty
 * Once in a Lifetime (2002) as Herman Glogauer
 * I See (You See) (World Premiere, 2003) as himself
 * All's Well That Ends Well (2003) as Parolles
 * Guys & Dolls (2003) as Nathan Detroit
 * School for Wives (2003) as The Notary
 * Me, Vashya (World Premiere, 2004) as Sir Vashya Shontine
 * Cabaret (2004) as Herr Schultz
 * Downsize (2004) as Walter
 * The Fantasticks (2004) as El Gallo
 * Six Seconds in Charlack (World Premiere, 2005) as Scoop and TSA Officer
 * Tick, Tick... Boom! (2005) as Stephen Sondheim
 * Backyard (World Premiere, 2020)

Theatrical Directorial Experience
 * Tick, Tick... Boom! (2005)
 * A Shave (World Premiere, 2006)

Tick, Tick... Boom! was Hirsh's first major directorial debut after Washington University secured the rights from the estate of Jonathan Larson to be the third venue in the world to produce the little-known rock musical.

A Shave was the first of a World Premiere site-specific trilogy of plays written by student Lauren Dusek and inspired by the on-campus success of Downsize by Chicago playwright Christopher Welzenbach. Downsize was staged at Washington University's Mallinkrodt Center Men's Bathroom, with a maximum of only 11 or 12 audience members viewing the show at a time. The trilogy, consisting of A Shave, A Haircut and A Song, was staged in the Washington University Small Group Housing parking lot, an on-campus apartment, and a racquetball court in the Athletic Complex, respectively.

Biographical Film
Following a divorce from Aline Gray in 2009, filmmaker Parthiban Shanmugam proposed the creation of a biographical film starring Hirsh and Atlanta singer/songwriter Debbie Aviva Kessler. The film's style would mimic My Dinner With Andre, in which the bulk of the picture was a completely improvised conversation between the two main characters, as well as footage from Hirsh and Gray's actual wedding, with a subsection devoted to Primal Therapy as the film's penultimate sequence. 3 Cats and a Man screened only once on May 17, 2012, in France. Unhappy with the outcome, Shanmugam had the film re-edited and retitled Pikuach Nefesh: Saving Daniel in 2016.