Dan Cogan is the co-founder of Impact Partners. He is also the founder of DMC Films, a film production company based in New York. DMC Films is devoted to discovering emerging voices in documentary and fiction film and to exploring new models of independent film finance. DMC Films currently has projects in development with Universal Studios, New Line Cinema and Casey Silver Productions. In 2006, Mr. Cogan launched the Chrysler Film Project. This screenwriting and directing competition, underwritten by Chrysler, sought to identify an important new voice in American independent film and finance their feature film. In launching the program, Mr. Cogan oversaw the screenplay and directing competition and secured co-financing for Chrysler for the winning film. The winning project, Derek Cianfrance’s BLUE VALENTINE, was produced in August 2008, starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. Mr. Cogan’s credits include The Lifestyle, a feature-length documentary about middle-American swingers directed by David Schisgall and executive produced by Ted Hope and James Schamus; and Torte Bluma, a short film based on the true story of Nazi death camp commandant Franz Stengl. Torte Bluma was directed by Benjamin Ross (RKO 281, The Young Poisonner’s Handbook) and stars Stellan Skarsgard and Simon McBurney. Before entering the film business, Mr. Cogan worked as a speechwriter for Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and as a journalist, writing for The New Republic, The New York Observer and The Washington Monthly. Mr. Cogan received his B.A. from Harvard University, Magna Cum Laude, and attended the Film Division at Columbia University’s Graduate School of the Arts.
