Dakota Pailes-Friedman is a filmmaker based in New York City, where he was born and raised. For the last eight years, Dakota worked exclusively within a duo writer/director relationship with his brother, creating a large body of short films and writing many feature projects.

Their films have played a host of festivals, including International Film Festival Rotterdam, Cork International Film Festival, Dublin International Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival, and many others. Now, Dakota is branching out into a solo career. His debut feature, “A Desire to Sink,” was selected to participate in the 2023 Cine Qua Non Script Revisions Lab. The film is slated to be made in 2024 with production company Gummy Films led by Rachel Walden, Pauline Chalamet, and Luca Balser.

Additionally, Dakota owns/runs 56 Bones, a boutique post house that has been operating in NYC since 2015. At 56 Bones, Dakota serves as the head post-producer and lead offline editor on a variety of projects which have premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and San Sebastian International Film Festival among others.