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Actors on Acting: Daniel Berini

3/15/2019

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By Ojas Devanathan
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Actor Daniel Berini
For this week’s profile we decided to look at Australian actor Daniel Berini who, through his continuous work in Australian film and television, has carved out quite a name for himself. He now has his sights set internationally after starring in the web-series, ‘Elling & Izzy’, which has gathered steam given its association with Will Ferrell’s company, FUNNY OR DIE and its streaming on American platform Stareable. Berini, who has appeared in a wide range of Australian television favourites, including the ABC series ‘Black Comedy’, Channel Seven’s ‘The Secret Daughter’ and Channel Nine’s ‘Love Child’, gives great insight into balancing comedy with drama.

In ‘Elling & Izzy’, the versatile actor showcases his dry wit playing Elling, a man suffering from OCD and Agoraphobia who struggles to reconcile the battle between his mental illness and deep desire for love and human connection. Berini successfully navigates that fine line between comedy and drama, somehow making the audience simultaneously have the urge to both laugh and burst into tears. Even in the midst of dramatic tension Berini’s inherent sense of comedy shines through in every moment (whether it’s him feverishly cleaning the shower or in the midst of a panic attack), lifting the atmosphere and preventing the series from becoming too weighted in its own drama. It’s this quality that explains why he continues to land roles in beloved Australian comedies.

“Comedy has a way of bringing people together,” he adds, and he’s absolutely right.

Daniel certainly has fans dying of laughter with his hilarious performance in season two of the AACTA award-winning show, ‘Black Comedy’.

The highly praised Aboriginal-Australian sketch features a series of comedic vignettes and skits around fictional Indigenous Australian stories. The series is known to highlight Australian racial politics and its race-relations through an amusing, lighter tone. Berini told us “[he] was both delighted and honoured to be on a show that portrays sensitive crucial political issues in such a unique manner.”

Berini plays the stereotypical, privileged (and aptly named) White Man, who often finds himself to be the butt of the joke. He brings a genuine charm that’s both truthful and effective, elevating the satirical sketch comedy.
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Daniel Berini (left), Holly Fraser ("Packed to the Rafters") and guest on the red carpet
‘The Secret Daughter’, in which Berini plays Andrew, gave the Perth native an opportunity to establish his niche as an Australian with the comedic timing akin to ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’s’ Larry David or any of the cast members of ‘Seinfeld’. In the series, Berini worked on the same set as MTV-award winning Australian singer, Jessica Mauboy, whose character Billie discovers that she is the secret daughter of recently deceased hotel mogul, Jack Norton. The majority of the story unfolds behind the doors of the Norton Hotel, within which Andrew is a crucial member of the staff. The Norton Hotel is a large melting pot of dramatic tension and Andrew can often be found at the centre of the unfolding drama. It’s a hilarious role that’s intricately woven into the popular comedy driven TV drama.

“I am very grateful to have been a part of that show. It was a lot of fun.” Berini offered.

The Casting Director of ‘The Secret Daughter’, Anousha Zarkesh, confidently exclaimed that Daniel especially stood out within the hundreds of applicants she received. Zarkesh stated that Berini’s “unique ability to adapt to any given role makes him the perfect candidate for any comedy or drama.”
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Berini has forged an enviable reputation as a hard working down-to-earth talent, which is all the more refreshing in such a tumultuous industry, known for producing big egos when an actor’s star factor grows.

“I feel very fortunate to be working in this industry. It feels a bit silly sometimes when I take a step back and look at what it is I get to call ‘work’, because it really doesn’t feel like work at all. Being an actor would have to be one of the coolest gigs ever, and I feel like pinching myself when on set sometimes just to remind me how lucky I really am to be doing this. It’s a real privilege to tell these stories, and I’m stoked to know that I’m making people laugh along the way!”

Entertainment LA is definitely laughing, and we look forward to welcoming the Aussie to American shores any day now. Check out ‘Elling & Izzy’ online now.

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Behind the Scenes with Producer Nicola De Stefani

12/14/2014

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Line producer and documentary filmmaker Nicola De Stefani laughs in the face of danger as he takes documentary and commercial productions to new heights on some of the tallest mountains in the world. 
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Italian Producer Nicola De Stefani

Sitting atop a saddled horse in Mongolia close to the border between the Tuva region in Siberia, Nicola (Nick) De Stefani watched the Tuvan Turkic nomads, known as the Tsaatan or Reindeer people, bid him farewell, and he turned away to hide the tears in his eyes. After more than three weeks of living, eating, and traveling with the Tsaatan nomads, De Stefani found it too hard to see their time together come to a close. The Tsaatan prepared a special parting ceremony for De Stefani and his crew, offering them sweet Reindeer’s milk, and wishing them well on their travels. 

“They knew we were probably gone forever, but not forever forgotten. I was on a horse saddle, the last one standing there, I couldn’t leave for a while, I only left when tears filled my eyes and I didn’t want them to see me like that,” remembers Nick De Stefani. 

Nick De Stefani and his crew had become a part of the nomadic group, even helping them move their camp to a lower altitude once the winter grew harsh. According to De Stefani, the whole experience felt somewhat like a dream, a powerful encounter with a nomadic people from a disappearing world. De Stefani catalogued this tribe’s day-to-day life through the eyes of their chief for his eye-opening documentary, Tsaatan, Gli Uomini Renna, or Tsaatan, the Reindeer Men, which he produced for Mediaset, Italy’s largest commercial broadcaster.

Nick De Stefani produced the documentary through World Watching Film, an Italian production company that he began in 1990. He took on and mastered a huge variety of roles for the company, working as a cameraman, producer, sound recorder, writer, art director, grip, and other crew roles. De Stefani was able to mold his plethora of talents to fit any challenge that arose during production, and as an indie production company that mainly shot documentaries in locales thousands of feet above sea level, extraordinary problems were the norm. 

World Watching Film produced nearly twenty pieces for television between 1990 and 1995, most of which were nature documentaries that specialized in educating viewers on habitat diversity and conservation. For all of these documentaries, De Stefani passionately worked a myriad of roles, drawing on his lifelong experience in the wild. 

Of his outdoors experience, De Stefani remembers “Being a mountaineer since I was a kid, a free climber in my teens and early twenties, and an avid lover of the outdoors, I was mostly involves in projects that were shot in the mountains or in the cold. Because of my great interest in natural life and biology, I was the one who suggested which animals or plants we were going to portrait and which became the subjects of our documentaries.” It was this passion that pushed De Stefani to the limit of his ability to survive, to take on formidable challenges in the hopes of producing work that could enlighten viewers about the diversity and beauty of life on our planet.

“To be able to pass their culture and their way of life to those who saw our documentary,” De Stefani remembers, “to be able to show how those people were living once, and will probably not be able to survive for long, I believe that was a precious portrait of a common past, and a lesson for our common future.” 
 
Nick De Stefani’s undeniable passion for his art has taken him across the globe and will continue to enthrall and educate audiences worldwide. His bravery and composure under immense pressures is a testament to his dedication to his work as a producer and all around film artist who will never compromise or cut corners.
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Genius LA-based Photographer Adina Doria

7/2/2014

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The driving force behind a successful print campaign depends on the images’ unique ability to command the attention of viewers. As an audience we are often bombarded by advertisement after advertisement making the vast majority of images easily ignorable in our everyday life. Because of this, photographers must exhaust all avenues in order to make sure their creative vision shines through in the mainstream, a task that Los Angeles-based photographer Adina Doria tackles with ease.

Whether the work is fashion related, focused on branding or aimed at hyping the release of a new music video, Doria’s ability to find chemistry with the models in which she is working with is what keeps companies coming back season after season.

A perfect example of some of this photographer’s extraordinary work can be found in a collection of images she shot for innovative clothing company Bohemian Society. Doria beautifully captured models Mikhail Misha Shpilev & Aaron Mann, who are represented by Envy Model Management in Los Angeles, in a way that is not only visually striking, but serves as a wonderful exemplification of the brand’s raw and edgy vibe.

“This specific shoot with Bohemian Society was for the Los Angeles Times. Since the name of this collection by Victor Wilde was "Nothing" my inspiration for the shoot was to create an open concept of two models chasing reflections,” said photographer Adina Doria. “They both have their own characters and are trapped in this timeless feel. Mirrors are very powerful. They reflect what we want to see.”

Renowned for her work across multiple subject matters, Doria has fulfilled many professional capacities in her job as a photographer. As the set photographer on the music video for comedian Jesse Wellen’s “Cookie Dance,” Doria was responsible for capturing the kind of imagery that would make viewers stop what they’re doing and rush to watch the video.

Referred to by the Huffington Post as ‘Easily The Best Rap Video About Cookies You'll Ever See,’ when audiences browse the Internet for the Prank vs. Prank star’s video “Cookie Dance,” most, if not all, of the stills were captured by Ms. Doria. The video, which has been a huge success worldwide, currently has over Six Million views on Youtube and, like Doria, shows no signs of stopping.

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