There are messages you open normally.
And then there are messages where you see the name at the top of your screen and think:
Wait. What?
Back in December, I got one of those.
Danny Delano had messaged me.
Now, I need to explain something.
Danny is one of those creators that pretty much everybody in this world knows. He'd already been doing this for years, had a huge social media presence, was very established in the industry and — there's really no sophisticated editorial way of putting this —
he's sexy as fuck.
So when I saw his message, my reaction was calm, professional and extremely dignified.
Obviously.
Okay, fine.
I almost creamed my pants.
THE MESSAGE YOU DON'T IGNORE
Once I'd recovered enough to behave like a functioning adult, the excitement really kicked in.
This wasn't simply somebody I thought was attractive.
Danny was someone whose work I'd already seen and whose name I'd known long before we'd ever spoken.
When you're building yourself as a creator, there are certain opportunities that arrive and you immediately know:
I'm not missing this one.
But underneath that was another feeling.
I was genuinely proud.
There is something incredibly validating about somebody established in your industry finding you and deciding they want to work together.
It felt like another little moment where I could look at everything David and I had been building and think:
Okay. Maybe we're actually getting somewhere.
So we made plans.
HE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED
Danny invited David and me to stay overnight at his place, which meant we weren't trying to squeeze everything into a tiny filming window.
The plan was for him to create separately with both of us, giving everyone enough time to actually make something good rather than rushing through it.
And very quickly, one thing became obvious:
Danny knows what he's doing.
He had a clear idea of what he wanted to film.
He knew how he wanted things positioned.
He knew his camera angles.
There wasn't endless standing around trying to decide what might work. There was an ease and confidence that comes from somebody who's been doing this for years and understands both himself and his audience.
For me, that was interesting to watch.
Because every time you collaborate with someone, you learn something.
Sometimes it's technical.
Sometimes it's about how somebody works.
Sometimes it's simply seeing how a creator with much more experience approaches the same job from a completely different perspective.
And Danny definitely gave us a little insight into that world.
AND THE CONTENT?
Hot.
I'm allowed to say that because I've seen it.
We filmed two separate videos — one with Danny and me and another with Danny and David — and I genuinely loved what we created.
The social content from the collaboration became some of our best-performing content, too.
Which is always a nice bonus when you've spent the entire build-up thinking:
Please be as good as I'm imagining.
It was.
But as usual, some of my favourite memories happened once nobody was worrying about camera angles anymore.
FROM CAMERA ANGLES TO KEBABS
We spent time chatting about the industry, and Danny shared some of his experience with us.
Those conversations are something I've learned to appreciate.
You can look at somebody's following and see the finished product, but you don't necessarily see the years of experience behind it — the things they've learned, how they approach their work or how they've built what they have.
Getting even a little glimpse behind that curtain is valuable.
And then, naturally, the evening reached its glamorous conclusion.
We ordered a kebab.
And somehow I managed to get Danny Delano to sit down and watch RuPaul's Drag Race with me.
This is the part of creator life nobody puts in the promotional pictures.
One minute you're filming content with someone you've known from social media for years.
A few hours later you're eating takeaway and watching drag queens on television together.
Perfect, really.
ONE FOR THE BAG
Looking back, this collaboration represents something slightly different for me.
There are collaborations that become friendships.
There are collaborations that turn into ridiculous adventures.
And then there are collaborations that make you stop for a second and appreciate how far you've come.
This was one of those.
I remember exactly how excited I felt when Danny first messaged me.
And I don't want to become so accustomed to this job that moments like that stop feeling exciting.
Because they should feel exciting.
Getting the opportunity to work with someone you already know and admire is a pretty incredible feeling.
Finding out they're professional, experienced and know exactly what they're doing makes it even better.
Finding out they'll also eat a kebab and tolerate RuPaul's Drag Race with you?
That's just excellent casting.
I went into that collaboration thinking:
Fuck. We're filming with Danny Delano.
I left with two videos I loved, some genuinely useful insight, one of our strongest-performing social collaborations and another experience I could quietly put in the bag.
Although if Danny ever messages again, I'm still probably going to get excited.
Some things don't need to change.
— Roby
