Dan Seaver

Founder of ManifestWorks Explains the Importance of Diversity when hiring crews

Dan Seaver is the Executive Director and a co-founder of ManifestWorks, a non-profit organization he built from infancy in 2013.

After a career in journalism and government, Dan spent a decade as a youth advocate while volunteering with kids incarcerated in Los Angeles County. ManifestWorks is a response to that experience, a solution to the problem of system-impacted people blocked from their potential.

He didn’t know much about the entertainment industry, but realized that if you hustle in production, you can get a leg up in the business.

This became the genesis for what is now Manifest Works, an incredible immersive program that connects those impacted by foster care, homelessness, and incarceration with job opportunities in entertainment. Through learning, real-world work experience, and a network of supportive professional mentors, ManifestWorks provides ongoing life and professional skills to support long-term success.

I’ve been fortunate enough to volunteer with the program for about two years. I’ve attended two of the classes and spoken to the students, helped them learn networking skills, and explained what an indie film producer does. I love that this program exists, and while Dan is not a producer, he advocates for producers since they are the ones with hiring power in the producer.

I wanted to shine a light on the program and how we can lift people up by showing them that their dreams in Hollywood can become a reality.

Tune in as we discuss humility, hustle, and hard work.

xx cg

"Producers are the heroes… they are the people that ultimately decide who is on their crew. They really are the people that are able to make an immediate and profound change on careers.”

-Dan Seaver

Episode Transcript