New York was recreated on a virtual set for the Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn movie Daddio, and nobody knew

Being both a longtime Sean Penn fan, as well as a born and bread New Yorker, it should be no surprise that the minute his new film Daddio was out, I wanted to see it. Little did I realise my favourite city wasn't real, or rather, it was remade in a virtual set by VFX firm Disguise to deliver a Manhattan-set movie on a small budget and eke our stellar performances from its actors.

Daddio is the story of a NYC cab driver, played by Sean Penn, picking up a JFK airport fare, Dakota Johnson, and driving her to Manhattan. Almost the entire 139 minute film takes place in the cab. This is not unlike other classic film gems with interesting constraints. Like 12 Angry Men that takes place all in one jury room, or The Set Up occurs in real-time.

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Lance Evans
Creative director, Graphlink Media

Lance Evans is creative director of Graphlink Media (graphlink.com), a boutique creative marketing agency in NYC, with clients like Olive Garden, Miller Beer and AMEX. Lance recently launched "OPEN STUDIO | NY", a YouTube channel looking at production techniques for advertising and publishing shops. Visit it at youtube.com/@OpenStudioNY