About

Dan Sickles is a filmmaker and the founder of DPOP Studios, a company dedicated to crafting compelling narratives across emerging media and dimensions. Founded in 2023, DPOP Studios partners with world-class storytellers and creative technologists to create innovative and sustainable models for the financing, production, and distribution of new media.

Dan’s filmography reflects his passion for innovative storytelling, centering hidden narratives through collaborations with leading talent across disciplines. Dan has worked with modern luminaries like Dev Hynes, Michael Cera, Sharon Van Etten, Christine Vachon, Buscabulla, and April Carrion from RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Dan’s first film, MALA MALA (2014), which he directed, wrote, and produced, documents the lives of trans-identifying Puerto Ricans at a time of momentous sociopolitical change. Executive produced by Christine Vachon and David Hinojosa, it received an Audience Award at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival and was nominated for a GLAAD Award in 2015. That same year, Dan was included in Out Magazine’s OUT100 alongside Cynthia Nixon, Lee Daniels, and Barack Obama. The first non-fiction film made in Puerto Rico to receive a theatrical release in North America, MALA MALA has been screened around the world, including institutions like the Brooklyn Museum, Harvard University, and the American Embassy in Kyiv.

Dan’s second film, DINA (2017), which he also wrote, produced, and directed, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and Best Feature at the International Documentary Association Awards for its nuanced portrayal of a couple on the autism spectrum. Executive produced by Dan Cogan and Christine Vachon, the film made then-29-year-old Dan one the youngest filmmakers to ever win the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. He was also awarded the PEEK Award and the Arc Alliance Community Service Award for his work with neurodiverse communities, and continues that work today.

In 2020, Dan began developing his next project, NEW HERE, a multi-format, multi-platform adventure story about the power of art and technology as told through the eyes of a new user journeying through cyberspace. In order to accomplish this ambitious undertaking, Dan launched DPOP Studios in 2023 with a team of creative technologists. 

DPOP Studios encapsulates Dan’s approach to collaborative storytelling, as well as his desire for artists to receive fair credit and compensation. DPOP Studios is building towards a more equitable storytelling landscape for creators, audiences, and curators alike. In Spring 2024, DPOP Studios announced its newest initiative, MOONBEEM, a programmable distribution network to empower a new creator economy for film and series.    
Dan’s writing has appeared in the Huffington Post, OUT Magazine, MTV News, and Gawker Media, and you may also recognize him as Clive from HBO’s High Maintenance.

Dan is represented by United Talent Agency. 

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