Dobbs Ferry Native Makes Feature Film Debut

All the work Daniel Dambroff, a lifelong Dobbs Ferry resident, has put into a career as an actor is paying off. Dambroff, who began performing at age 8, beat out hundreds of actors during auditions to star in his first feature film, Paul Brighton’s “Brilliant Mistakes.”

I knew from the moment he auditioned that he would be Marcus on-screen,” said Timothy Forry, the film’s co-producer, about Dambroff. “He was dedicated, worked tirelessly, without complaint and gave us every bit of what was inside of him.” 

The independent film—which premiered at the Rhode Island International Film Festival in 2012 and was also screened at the Toronto Independent Film Festival and the Dreamland International Film Festival in Connecticut—will be released on DVD on April 9. 

Dambroff plays Marcus Wright, a schoolteacher who struggles to keep his promise to marry his girlfriend Gabby who was left in a persistently vegetative state after a car accident. 

“Marcus is an all-around good person, raised on foundations of loyalty and honesty,” said the 26-year-old, who graduated from Dobbs Ferry High School in 2005. “I definitely see a bit of my ideal self in him. He's the guy who will always try to do the right thing.”

The Dobbs Ferry native said he first became inspired to act by seeing his father perform in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific” and that the journey to fulfill his dream was arduous at times. He waited for almost seven hours just to read for the part of Marcus on a hot July afternoon.

He began rehearsing for the role in August 2011 and began filming over a two-month period in Litchfield, CT that fall, The time spent preparing was “intensive, exhausting, but extreme rewarding. We called it ‘Camp Brilliant,'” said Dambroff.

“To know that someone believes in you to carry their film is an unprecedented compliment,” Dambroff said. “And for it to culminate in a North American release, I couldn't be more grateful.”

He ended up on the red carpet for his first world premiere when “Brilliant Mistakes” made its festival debut at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. 

“It was surreal,” said Dambroff. “I can't put into words what it's like to not only live your dream, but to then have the privilege of sharing it with those you care about most. It was a night I'll never forget.”

For more information on Dambroff check out his website at www.danieldambroff.com and visit www.brilliantmistakesmovie.com for more on "Brilliant Mistakes."