Director Danny Mooney is a jack of all trades in the film world. He got his start acting in improv comedy shows, sketch comedy, and stand-up. Mooney opened with fellow Arthouse actor Chris Beier for such talent as actor/comedian Dave Coulier (Uncle Joey, "Full House") and Comedy Central's Dane Cook World Tour-opener J. Chris Newberg. To this date, Mooney has been cast in lead and minor parts in over 75 short and feature films, has done numerous voiceovers, and has appeared in several commercials and TV pilots. He has also performed in local theatre as well as professionally in Moscow, Russia, in the International Chekhov Theatre Festival.
Danny Mooney has also been on the production side of over 35 short and feature films over the last few years with a full range of credits including Director, Producer, Director of Photography, Writer, and Editor. His awards at the University of Michigan-sponsored two-day Lightworks Film Festival as well as various other film festivals include "Best Silent Film," "Best Cinematography," "Best Editor," "Best Director," "Best in Festival" twice, "Best Screenplay" twice and "Best Actor" four times. Mooney was also one of three students at the University of Michigan in 2006 to win "The Trueblood Fellowship Award for Film Performance" (in both acting and directing), and one of three to win the award again in 2007.
He also recently won the "Leo Burnett Award for Film Marketing and Business" for his marketing during pre-production on the narrative short "Fingers," which was recently selected to world premiere at the 2008 Hamptons International Film Festival. To date, Mooney has worked professionally under numerous companies including 20th Century Fox, ABC/Disney, MTV Productions, Mandate Pictures and New Line Cinema. In the past year Mooney received praise from Academy Award-winning Hollywood writer/critic Kurt Luedtke ("Out of Africa") for his directing accomplishments in the short comedy "Step, My Boy."
In the 2008 Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences choose Mooney's short piece "Do Fainne Sorcas" as a "Regional Finalist" in the Student Alternative Category, exhibiting the film with all nominees at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago. Danny Mooney received his Bachelors Degree from the University of Michigan with a major in Film Production from the Department of Screen Arts and Cultures concentrating in directing, producing and cinematography, as well as receiving a minor in Drama and Text to Performance from the Michigan RC Theatre Department.