Daedalus Howell (born July 19, 1972 in Sonoma County, California) is an American writer, filmmaker and media personality, who leads FMRL, the Future Media Research Lab, a Berkeley, CA-based media venture that produces branded entertainment and transmedia.
Howell is author of the novel The Late Projectionist and the writer-director of dozens of short films. As a journalist, he has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, the North Bay Bohemian, the Petaluma Argus-Courier, Los Angeles Downtown News, FineLife Sonoma Magazine (for which he was editor) and the Sonoma Valley Sun. As a broadcast personality, Howell has hosted shows on KWMR (West Marin Coastal Radio) and KSVY (Sonoma, CA) and guest hosts The Drive on KSRO in Sonoma County. He presently writes a weekly column for the Sonoma Index-Tribune. He also pens a media column for the North Bay Bohemian and is credited as the "wine country editor" of Tasting Panel Magazine.
With collaborator Jerry Rapp, Howell wrote and directed the R&H Educational Film Series, a four-part parody of American "social guidance films" of the 1950s. The series has played on Showtime and Canal+. A portion of the series was showcased on IFC. Howell has also directed music videos for RCA-signed Longwave and New York City-based Falcon. Howell also co-produced the feature film The Aviary.
Howell was named "Lifestyle Ambassador" to his native Sonoma County by the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau in 2008 and stars in a series of videos entitled "Inside Sonoma," which highlight tourism sites throughout Sonoma County's wine country. Howell portrays himself as a cheeky guide to the wine country lifestyle with comic results.
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In 2007, Howell placed first in the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies’ national “Altweekly Awards” for Food Writing/Criticism (circ. 60,000 or less) for his wine column in the North Bay Bohemian.[1]
The California Tourism Industry Association (CalTIA) awarded Howell first place for his Inside Sonoma series in in October, 2008
In 2011, Howell also won first place in the National Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest for "Best Humorous Column" for his contributions to the 'Sonoma Index-Tribune.
Among other exploits, Howell and Rapp are known for squatting on the Warner Bros. studio back lot, which became the inspiration for their proposed TV series "Back Lot" (the duo cited Steven Spielberg's apocryphal stories of sneaking onto the Universal Studios lot as an influence). Negotiations with Fremantle Media and the Sundance Channel stalled in 2005 and the project was eventually shelved, though several short stories by Howell and a short film produced by Howell, Rapp and then-producer Ross Martin still exist. The series was pitched as "Two guys sneak off a tourist tram onto a Hollywood back lot, live in the sets, eat craft service and wear wardrobe while trying to get a three picture deal." It is highly unlikely that Howell and Rapp could have evaded lot security for any meaningful duration and their hijinks were thought to be a hoax. Howell's account of the "Back Lot" odyssey was published by Metroactive as "[L.A. Confidential][1]" in the August 24–30, 2005 issue of the North Bay Bohemian. The article was subtitled "In which our writer mines Milton, fends off Fabio, suffers attachment issues and waits to get back on the lot."
Howell's name itself has sparked controversy, not least of which for its pronunciation, "DAY-de-lus." Howell spells "Daedalus" with the "ae" diphthong which would properly be pronounced "Deedalus." Howell's recorded birth name was "Daedalus Christopher Ferguson," though he changed his surname to "Howell" at 18, which was his father's original last name prior to adoption by his stepfather. Throughout his formative years, Howell used the name "Chris Ferguson" and did not begin using "Daedalus Howell" in earnest until his early 20s when he became a professional writer.
With poets Trane DeVore and Jonathan Legare, Howell published the literary quarterly Deluge Six. Howell would later create Scam Magazine, a satire tabloid published intermittently between 1993 and 1995. The publishing interest also released author Geoffrey B. Cain's novel "The Wards of St. Dymphna." Howell later liquidated the publishing company's assets (including a variety of related Internet domain names) to subsidize his first forays into independent film.
In 2009, Howell formed DHowell Media Group, a branded entertainment company which has produced content for national brands including Annie's Homegrown, Morton's Steakhouse and Sutter Home Winery as well as numerous music videos. In October 2010, Howell changed the name of the company to FMRL, an acronym for "Future Media Research Lab" and a pun on "ephemeral." In 2011, FMRL contracted with Wikia to produce food and beverage-themed content in addition to renewing its relationship with the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau to produce Howell's "lifestyle ambassador" video series. Howell also produces content for Snibbe Interactive, founded by interactive media artist Scott Snibbe.
Howell dropped out of Petaluma High School in 1988 following a suspension from performing a staged adaptation of "Dr. Strangelove" (he would have graduated as part of the class of 1990). He later studied creative writing at San Francisco State University.
Howell also hosted and directed the documentary "Copia: The American Center for Food, Wine and the Arts," for WineTV, which never aired due to the closure of Copia.