Danny Donnelly

He is the filmmaker of The Woman in the Room Dollar Baby film.

SKSM: Could you start with telling me a little bit about yourself? Who are you and what do you do?

Danny Donnelly: My name is Danny Donnelly and I’m an Actor and Filmmaker from Philadelphia, PA. I grew up in a row home in Philadelphia, PA. My parents worked hard to give my brothers and I a good life. They always encouraged all of our endeavors. I personally grew up an artist and an athlete. I excelled in ice hockey, football, and basketball and was an avid drawer and painter. My dad, a plumber, instilled the value of hard work at an early age. Whether it was in sports or working with him on the weekends, I understood that the best way to learn how to do something was to just do it. Growing up, I was always a lover of cinema. I would watch tv and movies every chance I got.

Whether it was watching older films with my dad, or going to the movies with my younger brother Casey, I loved getting sucked into a story for a couple of hours. When I was younger I would make video skits with my youngest brother on my handy-cam and taught myself how to edit. In college at Temple University, I was no longer playing sports full time, and I was unhappy with my major in broadcasting. I was also working part-time at the University of Pennsylvania, and while working there, I had the opportunity to be an extra on the set of “Transformers 2” and my life changed forever. I fell in love with acting. I then declared a minor in theater at Temple University, and started training and booking acting gigs in film, tv, and theatre. I then quickly found myself behind the camera, writing, directing and editing short films. I felt at home. I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I’m going to be an actor and a filmmaker.

SKSM: When did you know you wanted to become a filmmaker?

Danny Donnelly: I kind of covered this in my previous answer to the first question, but I have always loved cinema growing up and I think the process of filmmaking started early on with my art. I enjoyed the process of taking a blank canvas and creating something from nothing. I learned quickly to tell stories with pictures. I also just love sitting by myself and creating a painting for hours. It’s probably why I love the film editing process so much. Making a film on set is a blast, but sitting with all the footage (the paints) in a room by myself and editing it into a cinematic story (the painting) is what I look forward to most. Overall, I’m a very visual person, and I think I just naturally understand composition and visual storytelling in different mediums. So when I got into filmmaking after years of drawing and painting, and creating skits with my brother growing up, I think it just felt right. It feels like this is what I should be doing for the rest of my life.

SKSM: When did you make The Woman in the Room? Can you tell me a little about the production? How much did it cost? How long did it take to film it?

Danny Donnelly: We started production of The Woman in the Room in April of 2023, but it was an idea for a year at this point. My producer friend Nick Peetros wanted to do this dollar baby and already had the contract in place. He had another guy that was suppose to write the screenplay and I was going to direct. Unfortunately, the other guy was not able to complete the screenplay, and Nick was running out of time on the dollar baby contract. So Nick asked for a contract extension which was granted, and then he asked my wife Aimee Theresa who is also a writer and an actor, to write the screenplay. Aimee knocked it out of the park! We loved her version. Once we had her adaptation, we were off and running. We had 4 days of shooting, but not consecutively. We shot the hospital scenes first. We rented this space for one day and knocked out all the hospital scenes. It was a little stressful, but I have a great team and we moved pretty quickly to get all the shots. Our second day of shooting was the exterior car and liquor store scenes. The third and fourth day of shooting was the house scenes. We rented the house on Air BnB, with permission from the owners to film there. Fun Fact, the house is the former home of musician Jim Croce whose song “Operator” you hear in the film. It felt like it was meant to be. I think the overall budget ended up being between $6k – $8k. I’m not exactly sure. We kind of just spent what we needed as went.

SKSM: How come you picked The woman in the room to develop into a movie? What is it in the story that you like so much?

Danny Donnelly: I think Nick Peetros would better answer this question. It was his idea to do The Woman in the Room. But I am glad he chose it. I am fan of Frank Darabont, and knowing he did this story as well meant a lot. I did not watch his version though. I’ve seen parts of it now, after we made ours, because I paid homage to it in the opening of our film, but I didn’t want to watch his version before we made our version. The one thing I love about this story and some of other King stories, is that it was a dramatic story with a sense of horror. It feels very real. The horror is not some monster, or spirit. The horror is in the fear of decision. The fear of loss. The fear of ending. These are very real fears we have as humans everyday. But as you know, Aimee did add another horror element to our version at the end of the film.

SKSM: Can you tell us about your experience on this Dollar Baby film? Was everything planned ahead or did some things change during filming?

Danny Donnelly: I am very big on planning and pre-production especially when I’m wearing most of the hats. I was the director, cinematographer, editor, and sound designer for this film, so having a vision of the film beforehand is very important. I storyboarded almost everything, so I knew what shots I wanted to get to help cinematically tell this story.

Even though I planned and storyboarded, things always change in filmmaking. You can have a plan, but you have to be open to change. We definitely had a few changes when we were shooting and I can say they were all for the better.

SKSM: Were there unexpected moments or difficulties during the making of the film that have become a new point of view?

Danny Donnelly: I don’t think so. I think this was a short film where I was able to apply things that I just learned from directing my first feature film. When we made The Woman in the Room, I was literally in the middle of editing my feature film Last Known Location and I learned a ton when making the feature. If there was anything that I always wish I had on all productions, it’s more time and money. But I think that’s every filmmaker, haha.

SKSM: What has this experience left you from a professional and human point of view?

Danny Donnelly: This is one of my favorite short films that I directed, shot, and edited. As a cinematographer, I think it’s one of my best works in terms of lighting and composition. I definitely learned more about lighting on this film in terms of being a filmmaker that directs and shoots. Making this film reminded me that life is short. We never know when the end will come, so we might as well do what we love and seek joy everyday.

Live everyday as if it could be our last, because in reality, it could. Just enjoy the ride.

SKSM: How did you find out that King sold the movie rights to some of his stories for just $1? Was it just a wild guess or did you know it before you sent him the check?

Danny Donnelly: My producer friend Nick Peetros knew about this and wanted to do a dollar baby film. I’m glad we did it befor the program ended. I’m happy I was able to make a dollar baby before they were gone.

SKSM: Was there any funny or special moment when you made the movie that you would like to tell me about?

Danny Donnelly: There’s a big moment at the end of the film that I can’t give away because it will be a spoiler, but let’s just say before our wonderful actor Eric Crist did this stunt, I made sure to test it on myself first, which was a fun time. I’m just really really glad it worked out and we were able to pull it off the way I envisioned it.

SKSM: What “good or bad” reviews have you received on your film?

Danny Donnelly: I’m not sure if there are many out there since the film is not public, but at film festivals, I have only heard great things about the film. People loved the story and the realness of it. They were really taken with our version because they can relate to it especially with being a caregiver. I think it felt close to home for some people. Some people who have seen other versions of The Woman in the Room, thought it was the best version of this story that they have seen. I could not be more proud with how this film turned out.

SKSM: Do you plan to screen the movie at a particular festival?

Danny Donnelly: We have screened at several festivals around the country and have been nominated and won a variety of awards.

SKSM: Are you a Stephen King fan? If so, which are your favorite works and adaptations?

Danny Donnelly: I am a Stephen King fan, but haven’t read him in quite some time. My favorite film version of one of his stories would have to be The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist.

SKSM: Did you have any personal contact with King during the making of the movie? Has he seen it (and if so, what did he think about it)?

Danny Donnelly: Unfortunately we did not. I’m hoping he watches the film and sends us a letter or email about it. Maybe one day soon.

SKSM: Do you have any plans for making more movies based on Stephen King’s stories? If you could pick -at least- one story to shoot, which one would it be and why?

Danny Donnelly: I would love to making another adaptation. I’m not sure which one I would choose. I would want to do something different that no one has done before or do a reimagining of an older film that may have not gotten the full attention it deserved. But if we get a chance, I think our team would do something pretty interesting with it.

SKSM: What are you working on nowadays?

Danny Donnelly: Right now our feature film that I mentioned before is now streaming on multiple platforms. It’s a suspenseful thriller called Last Known Location. Aimee Theresa wrote this film as well and also starts in it, and I Directed and Edited the film. You can watch it now on Amazon Prime Video, TUBI, Freevee, Fandango at Home, Roku, and Plex.

SKSM: What one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

Danny Donnelly: I grew up an athlete. I didn’t start my acting/filmmaking career until college. I play ice hockey, basketball and football. I even did a little boxing for a bit.

SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything you want to say to the fans that read this interview?

Danny Donnelly: I could not have made this film without our core group of people. Filmmaking is a collaborative are and first I would like to give a shoutout to my wife Aimee Theresa who is a brilliant screenwriter. Without her script, there literally wouldn’t have been this film. Also shoutout to our producer Nick Peetros, for not only finding this dollar baby, but for seeing it through and being an integral part to getting it done. I would also like to give a shoutout our beautiful talented actors Eric Crist, Susan Moses, and Brian Anthony Wilson. Their work grounded the film, and allowed people to feel for these characters and invest in the story. They took us on a journey and the audience was with them every step of the way. And last but not least, I want to shoutout our hardworking and dedicated crew Chris Potako, Tyler Mulholland-Gain, Geena Shaw, James McMonagle, Robb Stech, Tiffany Nguyen, Bradley Ceranzo, Stephanie Heart, and Andrew Hunsicker. This team loves telling stories and we have a ball doing it. We are definitely a family of filmmakers and we can’t wait to do more films together.

SKSM: Would you like to add anything else?

Danny Donnelly: To all my aspiring actors, filmmakers, and artists out there, don’t wait till you are ready to do it. If you want to be an actor, do it. If you want to make a film, do it. No time is the right time. Just jump in. Failure is always our best teacher. The way to get better at anything is to start and then keep doing it. Try, fail, learn, evolve, repeat. Also find a core group of people who you like working with. Filmmaking should be fun. It’s why most of us got into it in the first place. Enjoy the process, have fun, and make memories.