Daniel Grasskamp is a Writer & Director in genre and drama. He is passionate about telling intimate character-driven stories, through poetic visuals in atmospheric settings, that are daring, unconventional and portray characters that are rarely seen on screen. 

​His award-winning debut feature film CAT SKIN (2017) premiered at OUTSHINE FILM FESTIVAL in Miami as a Programmer Pick and won the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature Film at REELING: THE CHICAGO LGBTQ+ INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL.

CAT SKIN received further award nominations from film festivals around the world including the Gryphon Award at the 47th GIFFONI FILM FESTIVAL in Italy, the Emergence Award at OAXACA FILM FESTIVAL in Mexico and screened at one of the biggest festivals in Northern Europe PÖFF: THE TALLINN BLACK NIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL.

​This heartbreaking coming of age drama is now streaming on PRIME VIDEO.

​Daniel is developing his next feature screenplay WHEN THE SNOW FALLS, an atmospheric horror thriller told across intersecting timelines. The BFI Network invited Daniel to their Writer's Lab to workshop the project with story editor Kate Leys and the ACADEMY NICHOLL FELLOWSHIP in Screenwriting commented: "The script is full of starkly cinematic visuals that will play well on a screen."

​His latest short film ONE LAST RUN (2019) is a tense thriller shot in a single location. SCREENCRAFT selected the screenplay out of 2000 submissions for their Film Fund competition and awarded the script a spot in their semi-finals. ONE LAST RUN is now entering festivals.

​Daniel's short script RICOCHET was reviewed by SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL as "This script has a very solid core…it is very intense to the end. The dialogue and characters are well done. The end delivers an emotional gut-punch and leaves the reader hoping".

Daniel's background is in post-production, starting out as an offline editor cutting TV promos for WARNER BROS.TV, he worked his way up to managing a post-production office for an international agency. Editing proved to be an invaluable experience, influencing Daniel's approach when writing and directing.

Daniel studied Film Production at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, where he specialized in Directing and shot his graduation film DADDY AND THE DEER (2009) on 16mm film. The film held the number one spot for several weeks on SHOOTING PEOPLE’s Film of the Month chart.

He is currently co-directing the short documentary FATHER, WILL I SEE AGAIN? (2019) with documentary filmmaker Fred Burns (BASICALLY, JOHNNY MOPED). Shot in India, the story follows a boy suffering from a rare genetic skin condition that causes blindness.

Work History

Education

Skills

• Adobe Photoshop
• Photography
• Scriptwriting
• Video Editing
• Directing