Daniel Palacios
The power of telling stories through film has always inspired Daniel Palacios. The junior film and media major co-founded his own media production company in 2021, all while pouring an equal dose of passion into his coursework. Here, he shares with us why it’s all been worth it.
Interview by Jordan Ferguson
What’s your story? Why Georgia State?
I grew up in Gwinnett County, Ga., in a small town called Grayson. I did theater in high school, which was kind of my introduction to performing arts and, specifically, stage writing. Then, eventually, it was screenwriting. From there, I fell in love with filmmaking, writing and storytelling.
I remember when my older sister took a tour of GSU’s campus, I tagged along with her. I was very excited to be in the city. When it was my turn to start looking at colleges, I did a lot of research and felt like Georgia State was the best option for studying filmmaking.
Tell us about your company, Hardlight Entertainment?
My friend Gregory Morgan and I co-founded Hardlight Entertainment three years ago, and I am CEO. It started as a platform to share the short films and art I’d been working on. But as we’ve gone through college, I’ve met so many amazing people whom we’ve brought on board to help us grow Hardlight. We’ve also branched out into doing a lot of client work. We mainly do narratives, specifically producing and shooting narratives.
Is your goal to direct and produce your own films?
Yes, it is. I’m in pre-production for a feature film in which I plan to cast students both in the character roles and crew roles. The goal is to make, write and produce films, but what I think I really want to do is help bring other screenwriters’ dreams to life.
What inspires you to take a script and give it life?
My inspiration mainly comes from music. It has a way of transforming the context of a scene. Often, when I find inspiration for stories, it’s by listening to music and picking up a very key scene. Then I form the story around whatever that scene is. When it comes to other people’s scripts, whether that’s producing them or doing cinematography, I think what really draws me into the story and really inspires me is the emotional depth. How do the characters transform but also stay stuck in their ways? What is the story actually saying? I think I gravitate toward dramas more than anything else because dramas have a very specific way of capturing not only the way the world works, but also how humans work.
How do you feel Georgia State has helped prepare you for a career in film?
It’s all through the people I’ve met here. I’ve been working with the same five people since I got here. It’s incredible to see them grow and to grow with them.
And I have taken a lot of wonderful classes with professors who really shaped me. I remember for the longest time I did not like editing films because I thought it was tedious. Then I enrolled in this class by Professor Daniel Robin, and I fell in love with it.
There are so many amazing people in so many amazing places at Georgia State. If you make the effort to delve into things that are outside of your comfort zone, I think you can discover really big things about yourself.
