The Biography

Dan Shields, known more commonly as Big Dan, is an English Writer, Director, Actor & Cinematographer. He is most well-known for his debut short film Moth (2023), in which he was Writer-Director, Cinematographer, lead actor and Editor. He is also responsible for creating the Moth trilogy, composing of the short films Moth, Cocoon and Chrysalis. He is also a frequent collaborator with Sam Kidd, a Writer-Director, with their first collaboration being on film The Aisles That Echo, which they both wrote, as well as Kidd's anime series Lameria. He also worked as the film's Cinematographer, with its production being led by Producer Catarina de Cezanne. Alongside this, he was announced as the CEO of his and Kidd's production company, Open Eye Films, in 2026 when it was created and has held this position within the company since. As well as this, as of July 2026 alongside Kidd he is said to be working on a TV series set within the universe of Moth. He is also a collaborator with filmmaker Josh Sangha, working on several of his films, including Even, For Tonight, Everything is going to be okay and Driving from one place to another (all 2026). As a Cinematographer, he was responsible the Cinematography of not only the Moth trilogy, but also of Lameria, a documentary known as "The Hidden costs of Womanhood", another of his films made alongside Kidd, In Dead of Night, and, as mentioned, The Aisles That Echo. Within his acting career, he has played negatively presented and morally grey characters, primarily within short films. These include the Characters of Levi in The Commandments, the body actor for Death in Remember Death and Man #1 in Even, For Tonight (all 2026), as well as his aforementioned debut short film Moth (2023) and the student character in Dakota Morrill's Writer's Block (2026).