Dom Draper
Content Creator / Screenwriter / Social Media Manager / Photographer
New York, New York
www.bythegrace.me
instagram @domodraper
TikTok
Q What do you do?
“I’m a Story Teller. ”
I use that skill to create engaging content on social media. Building that connection with an audience is the goal for every influencer and the best way to do that is by catching and keeping the attention of viewers through captivating, entertaining and/or educational story telling.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
WELL! At the end of my senior year in high school I bought the 'Garden State' DVD and after watching the film with the director cometary turned on, I realized to myself that I absolutely wanted to be a screenwriter. When I enrolled at Brooklyn College (CUNY) in the fall I was proud to call myself a Film Major. Right up until I was pressured to switch major because " what job are you going to find in film after college?". Fast forward to 2023 and MEDIA IS EVERYTHING!! ... but I digress.
Despite pursuing a Business Degree and continued to independently study the craft that I knew was for me. I read book after book after brick sized book to learn from the greats in my field. I learned about scene structure, useful dialog, character motivation, screenplay acts, story breakdown, etc. I took all of that information and wrote 3 screenplay over 7 years. During the pandemic, I was introduced to TIKTOK and immediately applied my lessons to create content.
3 years later, here I am...
Q How do you stand out in your field?
Everyone sticks to a niche and that is mostly because the algorithm. The algorithm truly believes in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". This can pigeon hole a creator and limits the amount of products or subjects they can make content about.
I have the ability to move from niche to niche because I keep a few things constant no matter what the subject matter is. Engaging Story Telling by way of Educating/Informing and Entertaining.
As long as you have a good story, people will listen. I have a knack to seamlessly integrate products and/or brands into that story.
Q What are you working on right now?
I'm currently crowdfunding to build the budget to film my first feature length movie. I plan on submitting my film to many film festivals after wrapping. The name of the Film is 'I'm Sorry... I Made a Promise'. It took my 3 years to write this phycological thriller and I've never been more proud of anything else I've written.
Q What’s your style?
Check out these examples below:
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
SCREENWRITING & DIRECTING.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
Theres not more than one of me and I have too many ideas in the ol' nogging.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Honestly, I would have someone shoot and editing all my content. It would be amazing if I could just come up with the idea, acting it out in front of the camera and then forget about everything until it's time to post. Essentially, if would hire the George Foreman grill of assistants. Someone to help me "set it and forget it"...
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
If I had a hot tub, I would go back to my sophomore year in college, when I was sitting on my Craigslist bought couch contemplating giving up on pursuing my Film degree. I'd go back to this time and tell myself:
"Don't listen to what anyone else is saying. Do EVERYTHING in your power to become the filmmaker you want to be. You love this. You're a bit obsessed... but this is what you want. It makes you happy! I promise you, you'll be miserable in those business classes. You'll want to escape from those bland white wall in the classrooms of the business department. Your creativity will be flushed down the toilet and you'll find no human connection amongst your cohort other than with people who also don't want to be there. Stay the course... Get your Film degree. Then maybe you can go to grad school at NYU... Imaging the opportunities...
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
The expert would be Wes Anderson and we'd talk about to art of storytelling.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
I'm looking to write/produce comedic and engaging content for advertising and branding purposes.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
My ideal client is one who knows what they want before we meet. When a client has an idea of what they're looking for it makes it easier and more pleasant for me as I can hop into creative mode as opposed to playing detective to figure out what the client wants and what kind of artistic direction they're looking to go in.
Q What is your rate?
My rates vary from project to project and flex based on the timeline, deliverables and my level of creative involvement. Let's chat and figure out what YOU need... then later on we can discuss what I need. Anyone giving you a price before they hear your project seem sketchy to me...
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
I prefer DMs... call me a millennial. I can also be reached at bythegrace.dr@gmail.com and I would like the intro to include my Instagram tag, TikTok tag, the city I'm based out of, New York, NY and my titles.
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Easy! @LevertTheBassman The man knows more useful facts than Snapple knows non useful ones.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
How do you NOT?!
This member profile was originally published in May 2023