Daniel Maggio was born in Hemet, California and many of his films have been shot there. At the age of 13 he wrote his first screenplay, The Unknown Superhero, which was directed by his teacher/mentor Jimbo Marshall and produced through his middle school. It's the story of a comic book loving loner who gets super powers from the school's "mystery meat." The film premiered at the Temecula International Film Festival and that screening solidified Daniel's lifelong pursuit of making films and screening them for an audience.

At 17 he directed his first feature film, Brosis. It's the story of a brother and sister who unknowingly start dating each other over the internet. The 90-minute film was completed in 2008 and remains a cult classic among Hemet residents and fellow perverts.

He attended San José State University where he received degrees in Film + Theatre. While attending SJSU he directed multiple award winning short films: Jimbo, Elder Anderson, Sweetheart and Antique Imagination. He received the Emerson “Doc” Arends award for Outstanding Achievement in Directing. It is estimated that he drank 400 cans of Tecate during his collegiate career.

Everything changed when Daniel started hanging out with the indie rock band, Hippie Cream. With Hippie Cream's prolific output and collaborative spirit, Daniel was hooked and wanted to start making films "the hippie cream way." As a collaborative artist, you give your performers/team members just enough structure to stay true to the "song" while encouraging their personalities to shine through. Maggio has directed multiple short films based on Hippie Cream's music as well as a feature length sci-fi musical (Marty's Magnificent Day-Glo Dream-A-Thon) and a documentary telling the band's 20-year story (Radical Parade). In 2018, he became a member of the band and has produced their studio albums ever since (from Juniper Tree to Goat Egg.)

In 2014, Maggio directed The Glory Hole for Dan Savage's HUMP! Fest. The 4 minute short tells the true story of how Jeff and Cosgrove fell in love at a San Francisco glory hole in the early 90’s. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at HUMP!, screened at FRAMELINE40, and is distributed through Wolfe Video. Recent short films include Kesi, The Great American Short Story, The Big Book and Beethoven’s Great Great Great Great Great Grandchild. His most recent project is Martin Scorsese On… where he plays the legendary film director as he analyzes Hollywood blockbusters from 1996-2001 (including Armageddon, Twister, Bedazzled, Men in Black, Rush Hour and Big Momma’s House.)

Daniel is the co-founder of the Hemet Film Festival, an annual celebration of So-Cal based filmmakers hosted at the Historic Hemet Theatre.

- written as if by someone else

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