Review Fix Exclusive Queens World Film Festival Coverage: Daniel Maldonado Talks ‘H.O.M.E’

July 10, 2016 Patrick Hickey Jr. Film 0

Review Fix chats with filmmaker Daniel Maldonado who discusses his film “H.O.M.E,” set for at a run at this year’s summer screening session of the Queens World Film Festival.

For more on the film and the festival, click here.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for your film?

Daniel Maldonado: The first story was inspired by a piece in the New York Times in 2011 about a young man with Aspergers Syndrome who was reported missing yet was able to live in the subways unnoticed. The 2nd story was a culmination of threads involving Livery drivers in the NYC boroughs, communication & urban alienation via immigrant displacement.

Review Fix: What was the most challenging part of making it?

Maldonado: Working with a micro budget. That was the source of any & all challenges such as shooting in the subways without a permit or stopping traffic on the Manhattan Bridge. Luckily we had some good, talented people involved who trusted me based on past collaborations along with a few who were persuaded since they saw others investing themselves .

Review Fix: How do you want it to be remembered?

Maldonado: When I started to write the story I was very bothered and still am by this almost inherent function of city societies and their residents turning a blind eye to incidents & each other. Eventually this turned into a stronger idea in focusing on urban communication and the importance of human connection in urban environments. I’d like for audiences to walk away from the film with just a simple reminder & awareness to the value of this.

Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of the festival?

Maldonado: It feels great! It feels very welcoming not only from the festival but from the Queens community. I shot a lot of the film in Queens for a reason which was partly due to having been inspired by the diverse communities. This is also clearly reflected in the festival which has really grown enormously and yet they maintain such loving support of all the filmmakers. I loved seeing all the diverse films!

Review Fix: What’s next?

Maldonado: I’ve already begun working on the next feature length script which is a story that takes place in Puerto Rico loosely based on the missing Malaysian flight MH370 and its affect on a community.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14316 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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