The way the filmmaker as well as artist Dan Covert built his creative career

"Nothing's going to happen by itself by itself," Dan says. Dan. "The fastest way to establish your career is just keep making stuff. Even if it's performing a lot of work for friends to make stuff and keep you active as a director."

This is a philosophy that has taken Dan to a remarkable career, with a plethora of awards including AFI, SXSW, and obviously Staff Picks. " made our careers," Dan tells Dan. "That sounds absurd, but it's the truth. It's not like we'd have an audience for any of these things. We just purchased cameras and began learning how to build things."

After the release of his debut feature documentary " Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life," which won the Audience Award at this year's SXSW We had the opportunity to speak with Dan about his work process and his creative north stars. Watch highlights of the chat above and read the full conversation below.

 It was your first venture as graphic designer. How did you get from there to a feature film?

Dan The company we started was a company 16 years ago which was a graphic design business that eventually became a motion graphics company which later became an production company. This is a lengthy process. Through the years we designed shorts, as well as a few of them were staff Picked to be worn .

We just started experimenting and figuring out what our style was both as a business and as directors. Then I hit 40 years old and I was thinking, "I'm going to make films someday." It thought, "Maybe I'm not going to make movies unless I begin." Then I was looking for stories and this movie kind of was born.

 16 years can be a lengthy time for making things in the industry. Why do you stay?

Dan Dan: It's simply entertaining to be doing this job. Even until recently, I didn't think, "Oh, there's going to be this blow up event where my career is changing and I'm at the Oscars." I don't think about that stuff. The thing is, "Am I having fun at the moment? Are I having fun on the road?"

Because once a project it gets out into the world You can't predict how people react to it. It's just like "Did I do the most effective possible thing I could? Are I spending time working alongside people whom I respect and admire? Do we try to be genuine and real?" I'm always the several irons in the flame kind of guy. I own a company. I am a commercial director. I've been producing this feature film. I'm pretty good at my artist's practice. However, it's really about slowly just doing these things that I enjoy and after that I say, "We'll see where they go."

However, I'm not so concerned about the ' where they travel to' portion because it can cause you to die. Since, in the end, what's it really about whether you're famous or successful? That's probably not something you'll remember when you're 80.

 What's your creative north star?

Dan: We constantly are working to improve this. However, it's really storytelling acumen. It's craft and visual artistry. And those are kind of vague terms, but it does have a lot of significance. This is like asking, "Can you tell a story?" A lot of times people come with an unfinished idea that we, as storytellers are in the process of squeezing the story.

Commercials and art are somewhat opposite forces, but not at the highest levels. It's more about emotion and how you do that by using beautiful cinematography. However, we all possess our own unique voice. However, what truly excites me is the story and character.

 What can you do to work to create a brand that doesn't compromise the vision you have for your brand?

Dan: In the beginning I always thought it was something like "Oh, they're hiring me to help them with their needs." But over time I realized "No They're actually hiring me for help and I'm aware of that I'm capable of doing." It was an enormous shift seeking to know the needs of the business and what their aesthetic was. This is still a crucial aspect however, the higher and more I've grown as an executive, I've realized that people are coming to you for your personal voice. They want you to think through the complexities and to say, "What you guys need to do are these."

 Are there any brands that you're still hoping to collaborate with?

Dan: I think that's tricky because I don't really pay attention to that sort of thing. It's a matter of, "Is it a fun, interesting project?" Some of the dull assignments I've been given have become the most interesting pieces. The film I created was centered around a type researcher at Syracuse and it's the type historian's Staff Pick video we did. The story was about a guy who lived in a basement who found this font and then Pentagram turned it into the logo for Syracuse University. This guy is amazing. I would love to meet those like him.

Everyone wants to do jobs in Nike and all these incredible brands. Yes, it's fun however, I like discovering these unique stories and kind of giving them an opportunity.

I've never had the opportunity to direct. This was such a great validation as a creator that 300,000 people in just a couple of days watch this movie that we made. And it's like, "Oh, my God." What do I'm talking about? It wasn't made as a short film. It was made as a project for our client and only slightly edited it and then I noticed this crowd.

 Dress Code has been around for quite a long time. What keeps you from leaving the platform?

Dan: It just seems like the platform where everyone's creators view our work. The majority of these things in the world of short films is self-funded, sort of putting out these little trial balloons, and then other creatives see the balloons. The results are always surprising. A representative from an agency may call and say like, "Hey, we saw this thing. Do you have the ability to do the commercial campaign on our behalf?" It's like a one-to-one. When we're working in this manner, it's likely that the right people will be seeing it, they're elevating it by giving us a platform.

 Where do you find ideas?

Dan: I get the most motivation for my work via art. In reality, I don't view a ton of videos anymore. It's sort of taxing and then I'm always looking for ways to imitate things, so I just really try to find things that are very different from what we normally do or look into documentaries for commercials that feature features or even look into the fine arts for framing or visual techniques.

 What's the most helpful advice you've ever received?

Dan: There's a quote by Steve Martin where he says, "Be so good that they won't be able to avoid your." It's always loved that. It's just like a lot of people want the quick fix making something, and after that, one thing done. However, for me, it's all about slowly putting the time into building an entire body of work. Then, you'll be so good that someone will find your work.