Often here on ComingSoon.net, we have to sadly announce the passing of a great actor, director or other celebrity, but yesterday, the internet entertainment industry lost one of its greats, Daniel Robert Epstein.
If you’ve been on the internet anytime in the last five years, you’re bound to have run across one of Dan’s interviews or stories, whether it be at his main stomping ground SuicideGirls or at Newsarama or UGO or FilmStew. I think it’s safe to say that he probably racked more interviews in the last five years of anyone in the industry, and he wasn’t just talking to actors, directors or movie people, ’cause he was fully into the comic book industry and music biz, talking to many of the greats. Like myself, he was into movies, musics and comics, and really, the guy set the litmus for what was cool. He was a true fan of great art and music who had turned that love into some of the best interviews and writing on the internet.
We still don’t know much details about what happened but he passed away very suddenly and tragically last night, just three weeks shy of his 32nd birthday, and was found late last night by his wife Andrea, also a wonderful person who many of us knew from the screenings she attended with Dan. Our deepest thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to her at this very sad time.
Many of us who knew Dan, worked with him and loved him are still rather shaken up by the news, and we’re deeply in shock because of ALL the people for something like this to happen to, none of us ever expected that we’d ever lose someone like Dan so unexpectedly.
I have lots of great stories about Dan from the many movie junkets and set visits we did together in the last four years. Heck, he was at my very first roundtable interview with Sofia Coppola back back in 2003, and we were roommates at San Diego Comic-Con last year. Needless to say, I’m shocked and heartbroken about the thought of not having Dan around anymore.
I won’t bore you with too many stories but my favorite Dan moments were when we used to do roundtable interviews together back in the day, and he’d always want to ask the questions that everyone else was afraid to ask… usually something personal that no one would ever have the nerve to bring up. You have to understand that Dan was a BIG guy who could probably get away with it since no one would ever dare take a swing at him. Of course, more than once, I was the poor soul who was caught in the middle of Dan and whoever he was interviewing at the time he decided to ask one of those questions. But that said, he wasn’t one of these journalists who was trying to purposely get dirt on celebrities or be mean to the people he was interviewing because he really was a fan of their work and he had an encyclopedic knowledge of movies and character actors and things that most people would have to go onto IMDb to find out.
Dan Epstein was one of the greats in this industry. He was a good friend and one of my favorite people on this planet, and the world is going to be a much sadder and greyer place without his presence. We all love and miss you Dan and we hope that wherever you end up, you’ll get a chance to interview all the greats who passed away before you had a chance to talk to them.
If you knew Dan, were a friend or were a fan of his interviews on any of those sites mentioned, please feel free to leave your comments and thoughts for his wife Andrea here.
You can read more memories of Dan from his friends at:
CHUD
Suicide Girls
Newsarama
Film Stew
Movieweb
Latino Review
BlackFilm.com
Cinecon.Com
Dark Horizons
The Reeler
IESB.Net
Cinematical
Troma.com
Dan’s NY Times Obit.
As I said, the guy was loved and he’ll be missed by everyone who ever met him.
