Daniel Sorochkin

unaffiliated

1) What was your first professionally directed work and when was it? 

In 2017, I directed my first professional video for a fitness combat gym called FitHit. The gym is run by a Krav Maga expert and former special-ops unit officer in the Israeli Defense Forces. He’s a real beast. According to a few popular news outlets, he was the inspiration for “Erran Morad,” Sacha Baron Cohen’s counterterrorism character in Who is America?. That project was super fun to make, as we got to film his tough trainers working out in slow-mo, creating a badass video for FitHit while introducing their unique workout and app.

2) How did you get into directing? 

I grew up in Israel. My journey of filmmaking started during my military service in the IDF, where I took a mini DV camera from a friend and created several comedic films about our unit. The films made light of military life through quirky parodies of TV shows and movies like Inglourious Basterds, Sex and the City, Prison Break, Godzilla, and more. Those films were screened at the biannual unit conventions, which took place in a theater filled with hundreds of soldiers and brought comic relief from everyday military work. In 2012, after my service, I decided that I wanted to tell stories for a living and moved to the US to study film at NYU Tisch.

3) What is your most recent project? 

I’ve recently started directing a series of video profiles with influential leaders in various fields for a new fashion and content app called Latitude. The app, which is launching soon, was created by some amazing people in the fashion industry, with the aim of revolutionizing the way we shop for clothes and get dressed.

4) What is the best part of being a director? 

It’s tough to choose. Although I love directing actors, that comes second to the teamwork aspect of directing. No project is made by one person. The best part of it is to bounce thoughts off of each other, listen to the creative and insightful ideas crew and cast members bring, and decide which ones benefit the project/story most –creating a coherent and powerful vision.

6) What is your current career focus: commercials and branded content, television, movies? Do you plan to specialize in a particular genre–comedy, drama, visual effects, etc.? 

My focus during these past few years has been (exclusively) on commercial and branded content work, which I love doing. In the future, I might look to pursuit directing narrative work alongside it too. I’ve been lucky enough to direct all kinds of projects in various genres. The projects I find most exciting are the ones that challenge me most.

10) Tell us about your background (i.e., where did you grow up? Past jobs?) 

At the age of 12 I started playing tennis professionally and learning software development. I was really into those at first, but by around age 17, I realized that they don’t really hit home for me. I needed to veer into something that speaks more about the human condition. I became more interested in psychology and sociology. After high school, I was drafted as a Psycho-technical analyst to the Israeli military. Though I loved watching films growing up, it wasn’t until I was able to make films in my military unit, and make light of tedious and exhausting military life, that I realized how powerful storytelling is. Storytelling has allowed me to explore the human condition through comedy and drama, and to communicate my take on the world to an audience. It allowed me to dig deeper into what makes us tick, which I’ll always find fascinating.

Contact

Contact Daniel Sorochkin via email
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