Rest in Peace, Daniel Epstein 1975-2007
I just found out the news randomly searching through film websites today, but Dan Epstein, who briefly attended CSF in the fall of 1996, passed away a few days ago. I am in shock. My last communication with him was through Myspace about a month ago when he updated me on how good his life was with his wife and writing. He was talking about going to an art exhibit for a guy he was wanting to interview - the Woody Allen collaborator.
Dan was one of the first friends I made when I entered CSF in the fall of 1996. He was a born leader, a cocky, self-assured New Yawker who made no bones about speaking his mind. During our late nite nothing else to do in this tourist town we live in boredom, as we drank grape Kool-Aid mixed with Everclear, he introduced me and the crew which included Phil Motley and Nick Deamer to Meet the Feebles and The Begotten in his dorm room atop King. He talked about his days at Rochester before transferring to CSF and working on the lighting crew for Tromeo and Juliet. One of his short films randomly ended with a man screwing a Cabbage Patch Doll. Seriously, the faceless naked man stood pumping the doll he held doggie style in his hands in grainy black and white film stock. I will never forget that image as much as I'd like primarily b/c it had nothing to do with the short, and Dan had only slapped it on the end for the random shock value.
He made fun of Bennett Cerf, who at the time was a freshman and sported a bleached blonde afro. He was the star villain of Rob Weisman's SUPERKID, which I still have on tape, but Dan never got me a copy of the short film he made. All I have as a reminder of that shoot are the pictures I took and the memories of this over sensitive older guy acting as DP named Patrick (not my beloved Paddywhack now residing in Colo) wanting to stop production b/c I didn't have time to say hi to him as I worked on my Script Supervisor notes before the day began. Dan had to take us both outside and basically begged me to make up with the dude for his sake even though he knew the guy was off his noggin. That's a totally different story for a different time.
I was the only girl palling around with these boys - my typical tomboy fashion. Before our falling out, Dan was dating this girl who was madly in love with him, although she wouldn't admit it because he didn't feel the same. We'd know they were indisposed because he had a habit of turning on his radio loudly and between radio stations when she was in his room with him. The static-y half music irritated the rest of his floormates, so we'd sometimes just bang on his door to be obnoxious. He'd never answer.
One night he walked me back to my side of King, and I knew I was in trouble. He came right inside and tried to kiss me - the most awkward of boy incidents I have ever documented. We were only 20 years old, and I was less than seasoned in that arena (late bloomer). I seriously felt like an ass for turning him down and was immediately guilty wondering if I had led him on in any way. It was the end for us. He did not like being rejected by me and turned the rest of the crew against me, planting thoughts in everyone's head that I was only hanging out with them b/c i had a thing for Phil, and I was a jealous, insecure person. Even Phil retreated b/c he believed him. I never had a thing for Phil, but this is what happens when you have breasts, a vagina, and make best buds with guys. i'm only one of the guys until one of them likes me too much, and I don't reciprocate.
I met Eric very soon after (or rather Eric started following me around like a puppy dog) and became better friends with Buffy, Bridgitte, and Karie b/c of the break. I watched Dan say goodbye to CSF from afar (in the quad) in Dec 1996 as he drove away in his white convertible, his girlfriend in the passenger seat and the crew surrounding him in the parking lot, and I felt sorry for hurting him so badly, but I never felt I did the wrong thing that nite by telling him no. I managed to patch up a little bit with Phil although I feel like he still gave me that wary look every now and again even though I was firmly planted in a relationship with Eric, but Nick and I never got along too well after that.
Dan was smart about leaving CSF when he did. I always envied him and Rob Weisman that. They had already tasted film depts in other schools, so they very early on discovered the b.s. that the CSF Moving Image Arts Dept. created and refused to both be rejected by the fledgling program as well as endure the next two years of listening to the bitter has-beens or wannabes tell you all you were failures so you better figure out what else to do with your lives.
Dan made my first foray into the real world away from house and home interesting, so regardless of the incident, I will never forget the good times and what we had before we lost it. He rediscovered me on Friendster about a year ago, in turn I added him on Myspace, and I was very proud of what he was accomplishing in the writing world. He had made a name for himself which is what he always wanted to do, and he was only getting more established as time rolled on.
Rest in peace, Dan. You and your talent will be missed by all.
Dan was one of the first friends I made when I entered CSF in the fall of 1996. He was a born leader, a cocky, self-assured New Yawker who made no bones about speaking his mind. During our late nite nothing else to do in this tourist town we live in boredom, as we drank grape Kool-Aid mixed with Everclear, he introduced me and the crew which included Phil Motley and Nick Deamer to Meet the Feebles and The Begotten in his dorm room atop King. He talked about his days at Rochester before transferring to CSF and working on the lighting crew for Tromeo and Juliet. One of his short films randomly ended with a man screwing a Cabbage Patch Doll. Seriously, the faceless naked man stood pumping the doll he held doggie style in his hands in grainy black and white film stock. I will never forget that image as much as I'd like primarily b/c it had nothing to do with the short, and Dan had only slapped it on the end for the random shock value.
He made fun of Bennett Cerf, who at the time was a freshman and sported a bleached blonde afro. He was the star villain of Rob Weisman's SUPERKID, which I still have on tape, but Dan never got me a copy of the short film he made. All I have as a reminder of that shoot are the pictures I took and the memories of this over sensitive older guy acting as DP named Patrick (not my beloved Paddywhack now residing in Colo) wanting to stop production b/c I didn't have time to say hi to him as I worked on my Script Supervisor notes before the day began. Dan had to take us both outside and basically begged me to make up with the dude for his sake even though he knew the guy was off his noggin. That's a totally different story for a different time.
I was the only girl palling around with these boys - my typical tomboy fashion. Before our falling out, Dan was dating this girl who was madly in love with him, although she wouldn't admit it because he didn't feel the same. We'd know they were indisposed because he had a habit of turning on his radio loudly and between radio stations when she was in his room with him. The static-y half music irritated the rest of his floormates, so we'd sometimes just bang on his door to be obnoxious. He'd never answer.
One night he walked me back to my side of King, and I knew I was in trouble. He came right inside and tried to kiss me - the most awkward of boy incidents I have ever documented. We were only 20 years old, and I was less than seasoned in that arena (late bloomer). I seriously felt like an ass for turning him down and was immediately guilty wondering if I had led him on in any way. It was the end for us. He did not like being rejected by me and turned the rest of the crew against me, planting thoughts in everyone's head that I was only hanging out with them b/c i had a thing for Phil, and I was a jealous, insecure person. Even Phil retreated b/c he believed him. I never had a thing for Phil, but this is what happens when you have breasts, a vagina, and make best buds with guys. i'm only one of the guys until one of them likes me too much, and I don't reciprocate.
I met Eric very soon after (or rather Eric started following me around like a puppy dog) and became better friends with Buffy, Bridgitte, and Karie b/c of the break. I watched Dan say goodbye to CSF from afar (in the quad) in Dec 1996 as he drove away in his white convertible, his girlfriend in the passenger seat and the crew surrounding him in the parking lot, and I felt sorry for hurting him so badly, but I never felt I did the wrong thing that nite by telling him no. I managed to patch up a little bit with Phil although I feel like he still gave me that wary look every now and again even though I was firmly planted in a relationship with Eric, but Nick and I never got along too well after that.
Dan was smart about leaving CSF when he did. I always envied him and Rob Weisman that. They had already tasted film depts in other schools, so they very early on discovered the b.s. that the CSF Moving Image Arts Dept. created and refused to both be rejected by the fledgling program as well as endure the next two years of listening to the bitter has-beens or wannabes tell you all you were failures so you better figure out what else to do with your lives.
Dan made my first foray into the real world away from house and home interesting, so regardless of the incident, I will never forget the good times and what we had before we lost it. He rediscovered me on Friendster about a year ago, in turn I added him on Myspace, and I was very proud of what he was accomplishing in the writing world. He had made a name for himself which is what he always wanted to do, and he was only getting more established as time rolled on.
Rest in peace, Dan. You and your talent will be missed by all.