David Daniels (filmmaker)

David Daniels is an American commercial director, filmmaker, and co-founder (along with Ray Di Carlo and Chel White) of the Portland, Oregon based animation studio Bent Image Lab. With a master's degree in Animation from The California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts), Daniels’ expertise includes computer (or CG), clay, foam, character, and mixed-media animation.

Early in his career, Daniels animated parts of Pee-wee's Playhouse, and sections of Peter Gabriel’s music video "Big Time." David later directed the original twelve M&M's spots, helping define the CGI designs of Yellow, Blue, Red and Green personalities that are still being used over a decade later. His industry awards include an AICP award, a Clio, Mobius awards and a Daytime Emmy. His clients include Hewlett Packard, Fox, MTV, NBC, Pepsi, Nabisco, Mars, Sesame Street, Tinactin (featuring John Madden), and Kelloggs.

Daniels invented a technique he termed Strata-cut animation, a form of clay animation in which internally packed "loaves" of clay are animated in thin slices, revealing the movement of the pre-sculpted images within. The technique of strata-cut was used in animated segments of the Pee-wee's Playhouse series during the mid-80s, and in the music video for "Big Time" by Peter Gabriel (1986). His www.stratacut.com websiteoffers a complete 'how to' course for those who wish to learn, and countless examples of the technique in action.

In 2008, David Daniels and Bent co-founder Ray Di Carlo co-directed "Hidden Formula," a Coca-Cola television commercial created for the advertising agency Santo, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Daniels' experimental animated film, "Buzz Box Remix" premiered at the 2007 International Film Festival Rotterdam.

His Masterclass presentations in person at Anima Mundi 2011 in Rio and São Paulo, and at Chilemonos 2012 in Santiago introduced a whole new generation of animators firsthand to this unconventional artform.