Dani Guzman is a Queer Chicano Writer, Director, & Cinematographer from Southern California and recent graduate of NYU Tisch where he earned a BFA in Film/TV Production & Psychology. He is an alumnus of Orange County School of The Arts’ Film & Television Conservatory where he produced, wrote, & directed six extracurricular short form passion projects. Two of his works, created when he was 15-16 years old, screened at Woodstock Film Festival, Los Angeles Cinefest, and at the All American High School Film Festival. My Significant Other (2019) served as his visual sample in his application to NYU Tisch, and won the first place prize at NYU’s Back to School Film Festival in 2020. Guzman has taught film as a volunteer to chronically ill and disabled students for the nonprofit organization Coachart, he interned with Cold Iron Pictures and The Film Arcade, and worked with industry mentors at NYU’s Los Angeles campus to research film financing for emerging filmmakers. Who Raised You?, his final thesis short film project at NYU, will serve as a proof-of-concept for his feature directorial debut. The script won the first place Short Screenplay prize at Nantucket Film Festival's Tony Cox Screenplay Competition.

At the heart of his current work is an exploration of Queer love and identity, as well as its contradictions to oppressive social, sexual, and economic regimes. He finds influence in a variety of artistic mediums which excel in sensual world-building and emotional transcendence. Deeply influenced by the field of transpersonal psychology, he is motivated by the inherent power of cinematic art to elevate the audience’s consciousness. Guzman is currently workshopping and rewriting his narrative feature film screenplay, Buddies, which reimagines Arthur J. Bressan Jr’s original work from 1985 - with support from its original rights holders, Roe Bressan and Jenni Olson. Currently on draft seven, an earlier draft has shown promise in advancing the ranks of Screencraft’s Screenwriting Fellowship.