Optimistic Productions is a dynamic partnership between Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell. Both share a drive and independence that somehow works well together when each takes the lead on different ‘Optimistic’ projects.
After making his dark comedy film ‘Jesus of New York’ Dan put his maverick ambitions into practice and established Optimistic Productions in 2001. His background in History (studying at UCL and the Sorbonne) and previous work with photography and photojournalism helped provide a solid grounding for Optimistic’s aim of combining storytelling with stunning cinematography working across fiction and documentary genres. Throughout, Dan has been writing and performing his own songs which contain the same fusion of science fiction, folk and urban fantasies that surface in Optimistic’s films.
Dan brings critical professional skills to artistic production and has worked for advertising agencies as a producer and as an independent producer/director and film tutor/workshop leader. Hilary first worked with Dan on a series of C4 3 Minute Wonders called ‘Subverting the City’ exploring playful ways of negotiating city space from urban climbing to Midnight cricket with the Space Hijackers. This provided the basis for further work together as they share a penchant for the surreal and humourous seen in their recent film 'The Games'.

Hilary is an artist whose imaginative and interdisciplinary practice is consistently engaged with the changing urban environment and its secret histories. She studied Fine Art at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford University before heading off to Prague and Amsterdam to develop her installation/ performance practice in the city within an MA Scenography. She creates total atmospheric environments and has made theatrical installations in derelict sites across Europe from a car ballet/concert on Amsterdam Docklands to projects in Berlin factories and empty London Lidos (an overview of other projects can be seen at http://hilaryspowell.googlepages.com
Hilary has a PhD in Cultural Studies from Goldsmith’s College where she extended this investigation and debate around eventful practices within the urban landscape. Hilary brings this rigorous energy and vision to all areas of Optimistic Production’s projects bringing them life early on with her visual work (http://ransomimages.googlepages.com)
They continue to develop their interdisciplinary collaboration drawing on each other’s diverse artistic and professional skills to push the boundaries of their creative practices and use of media further – from costume and set design/installation to multimedia production, music and guerrilla choreography.