Name:

Daniel Lir & Bayou Bennett

Films:

"Text Me"

Biography:

------->>> Daniel Lir Filmmaker Daniel Lir was born in the ancient Arabic fishing village of Jaffa, Israel. Born to two passionate designers, he was forced at a young age to go to museums and take various design courses. His rebellion to this exposure ended as a teenager and he finally became interested in the Arts and was struck by their beauty and meaning. It was however in a beginning film course at Art Center College of Design that Daniel’s life changed by falling in love with the medium of film. Inspired by the cinematic wonder of Italian director, Federico Fellini (“La Dolce Vita”), Daniel Lir founded Dolce Films. Since graduating from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Daniel Lir has had a very industrious and successful career in film, documentary and television. Whether working with such champion athletes as Nastia Liukin and Andy Roddick, music legends Isaac Hayes and P. Diddy, fashion icons Oscar De La Renta and Carolina Herrera or screening at Sundance, Daniel Lir was always creating. Something he believed in and passionately worked to make the best possible project. Beginning in 2009, Daniel teamed with his wife, Bayou Bennett and a dream team was born. Shortly after joining creative forces, their TV pilot, “Around the Block” starring Lea Michele of Fox’s “Glee” became an award winner at the New York Television Festival. Also, the feature-documentary Daniel co-produced and Bayou directed, “Me, My Father & the Hurricane” was a big hit at the legendary Hot Springs Film Festival. In the narrative fiction world, Bayou and Daniel’s short film, “Text Me”, had audiences rolling with laughter and was nominated as a Finalist at IndieProducer by execs at Fox Searchlight, Fox and DreamWorks. Currently, Bayou and Daniel are working passionately to produce a feature film Daniel wrote currently titled “My Red Badge of Courage” (Official Selection Beverly Hills Film Festival & Semi-Finalist in the Ultimate Filmmaker Competition.) ------->>> Bayou Bennett Filmmaker Bayou Bennett, a native of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, received her M.F.A. from the University of Arkansas and recently completed her feature length documentary, “Me, My Father and the Hurricane,” an audience favorite at this year’s Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. A producer, award-winning filmmaker, multi media artist and dancer, Bayou currently works for New York production company, Dolce Films and is an Adjunct Professor of Fine Arts & Cinema at the New York Institute of Technology. At Dolce Films, Bayou is working on a number of films and documentaries. Among these projects Bayou recently produced the award-winning TV series “Around the Block” starring Lea Michele of Fox’s hit series “Glee.” Driven by a purpose to inspire hope and change in a turbulent world, Bayou works her hardest to breath life in to the type of creative projects that will have a significant impact on society. Whether teaching film as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Fine Arts at the New York Institute of Technology, doing avant-garde performance art, or being behind the camera, Bayou Bennett is always pushing the boundaries and giving 110 percent. ------->>> “Multimedia Vita” Bayou Bennett is living her dream. She’s a globetrotter with a constellation of creative outlets. In addition to being an award-winning filmmaker, graphic designer, dancer, actress, and avant-garde performance artist, she teaches her craft to students endeavoring to make their own indelible impressions in the art world. After earning her M.F.A.—which included a summer of study in Rome—the Arkansas native moved to New York City to pursue her passions and hone her versatile talents. Bayou has exhibited her digital images and multimedia work in her hometown, London, and Mexico City, and has debuted her films at festivals in Los Angeles, Hot Springs, and Houston. She joined NYIT in 2007 as an adjunct assistant professor at the Amman campus, and today teaches cinema, computer graphics, and Web design at the Manhattan campus. Her latest accomplishment—10 years in the making—is an intensely personal film about her father, a legendary musician. Bayou, who says she is “driven by a purpose to inspire hope and change in our turbulent world,” is helping her students shine in their own right.

Website:

http://www.dolcefilms.com/