Kim Dawson

CENTRAL FLORIDA’S PREMIERE PRODUCER

Mutant Turtles What?!

How to become a movie producer: Start out as a soda vendor for a major leagues baseball team. Get to know the team’s play-by-play radio announcer. Have him recommend you for work with a sports TV production company. Start working for a startup premium cable TV movie channel called Showtime. Work your way up to Director of Original Programing for the West Coast. Move to Florida to produce the All New Mickey Mouse Club. Aquire the movie rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (because that’s got to be a hit, right?) Befriend Jim Henson and convince him to make the costumes for your movie. Then Boom! You’re a big time movie producer! Simple right?

Hey, that’s the way Kim Dawson did it! Excited to have him in our little documentary.

PRODUCER

Kim produced the feature film Annabelle Hooper & The Ghosts of Nantucket starring Bailee Madison for the family brand Marvista Entertainment. He produced To Write Love On Her Arms, starring Kat Dennings, which is based on the true store story that inspired the global social movement To Write Love on Her Arms (www.TWLOHA.com) and was released by SONY in March, 2015. Kim produced Letters to God, for Vivendi (now Cinedigm) under the Possibility Pictures brand.

Kim moved to Orlando to produce the “Mickey Mouse Club” for Disney Channel and produced the first two seasons 1989 and 1990 before producing three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle feature films for Golden Harvest and New Line Cinema from 1990 until 1993. In 2004, he produced the feature film Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius starring Jim Caviezel, Malcolm McDowell, Jeremy Northam and Claire Forlani for Sony Pictures.

In 1994 and 1995 he produced 65 episodes of “THE NEWZ” for Columbia Tri-Star Television at Universal Studios Florida. In 1996, he was Supervising Producer for “Tarzan the Epic Adventures” shot in Central Florida utilizing Disney MGM and Universal stages. He was the Coordinating Producer for 3 seasons of MTV/ABC’s “Making the Band” from 1999 to 2001 on behalf of series creator Trans Continental TV.

Kim, 71, lives in Orlando with his wife, Doreen, of 40 years. He has served on various advisory committees regarding filming in Florida, and is active with the Williams Alumni. He is proud to serve on the Board of CSF.

Blog

Gentry Akens

Did you know Gentry Akens was a layout artist on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe? It’s true. Fat Albert too. There’s a fascinating story about how he got his job at Hanna Barbera, but we’re here to talk about Hollywood East!

Rich West

From his first spaceship models in his garage to his first job building props for Clarissa Explains it All, Rich has honed his skills as a prop master. Rich was also a prop maker on the All-New Mickey Mouse Club, Adventures in Wonderland, Gullah Gullah Island, and From the Earth to the Moon, along with many others, and was last seen as an Art Director on Universal’s new Epic Universe theme park.

Paul Meena

Another Big Get! Finally hooked us a big fish from Universal Studios. Paul Meena is the former Vice President and General Manager of the Universal Studios Florida Production Group, but he earned his stripes the hard way.