Daniel Yoon, born outside of Chicago, grew up in Toronto as the son of South Korean immigrants. He attended the University of Toronto Schools, where he was elected Valedictorian by his peers, and later completed a Bachelor of Science with Distinction in Engineering Physics and a Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude in History at Cornell University in just four and a half years. Additionally, he played junior varsity ice hockey for Cornell University.
At Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs, Daniel earned a Master of Public Administration and was awarded the prestigious Somers Prize for his outstanding thesis. Notably, he has no formal film training.
Throughout his career, Daniel has pursued various endeavors. He worked as an Outward Bound Instructor, leading extended canoe expeditions in Northern Ontario. He also dedicated himself to environmental causes, serving as an energy policy analyst in Washington D.C. and Colorado. Furthermore, he was a management consultant to Fortune 1000 companies with McKinsey and Company.
Daniel's debut feature film, Post Concussion (1999),was a no-budget, partially autobiographical comedy that explored the life changes of a successful consultant after a serious head injury. Daniel took on multiple roles, including Writer, Director, Producer, Cinematographer, Editor, and Lead Actor. For many shots in the film, he would set up the Eclair NPR camera, turn it on, and then step into frame. Post Concussion won several festival awards, including the Taos Land Grant from the Taos Talking Pictures Festival (2000). Indiewire praised the film as "Brilliant," while Variety deemed it "Intriguingly original and appealingly offbeat."
