Daniel “Don Solaris” Melguizo was born and raised in Madrid, Spain, and has spent most of his life engaged and employed in the worlds of television and film.
He shot his first short film, “Tú, Tu Cerveza y lo Grande que Eres,” in 16mm, an exciting experience that drew him to fiction and documentary filmmaking. After studying photography, filmmaking and film editing at Metropolis C.E., TAI, and Visual Arts and teaching video and film courses at Madrid’s Metropolis C.E., he founded Solaris Film Productions. Then he had the opportunity to edit Carlos Reygada’s first feature film, “Japón”.
In 2005, Daniel moved to New York City determined to film a documentary that exposed the challenges Dominican’s faced while attempting to immigrate to New York. The end result was his first feature film: “New Dominican York.”, which premiered at Seminci 2008 and it was screened at several film festivals around the world. Since then, he has developed a unique story telling perspective, which, combined with his skills as cinematographer and editor, has earned him a great reputation in the world of independent filmmakers and media freelancers.
Melguizo has worked for companies like NBC, PBS, Bravo, Brooklyn Academy of Music and MTV. In 2011 he was nominated for a NY Emmy for his news report “Our Lady of Guadalupe”, and a second time in 2015 for “Trabajando Para Ti,” promos for NBC Telemundo. His last feature film, “Mi Hermano”, premiered in the Madrid International Film Festival PNR in 2021, winning Best Editing and People’s award.