Cory Michael Dawson

As an avid cinephile, Cory Michael Dawson spent more than a decade working in a video store and his local Village Roadshow cinema. After years of film studies, Mr. Dawson shifted his focus and found work as a P.A. for TV stations such as ONE HD, Channel 7, Channel 9, Network 10, Foxtel and the ABC. Now motivated by these experiences, Mr. Dawson chose to pursue his own projects, including directing his own music videos, short films and contract TVC's. In 2013, Mr. Dawson wrote and directed a short film called "You Are Not Alone", where it garnered thousands of views in a matter of hours. Later, the film was nominated for "Best Film", "Best Director", "Best Writer" and "Best Actress" at the prestigious Short Cuts film festival. It was featured on national TV as part of the event. In August 2015, Mr. Dawson co-wrote and directed the short film "Injurious", which was nominated by Warner Brothers Australia as 1 of the Top 5 Horror Short Films of that year. It screened in cinemas throughout the month of October and was featured as part of Warner Bros. Movie World's annual festival, "Fright Night", where it was judged by the President of Village Roadshow Studios, Wolf Creek (2005) creator Greg McLean and Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014) director Kiah Roache-Turner. Not only was Mr. Dawson the youngest director with a film nominated, it was also the only film representing his entire state of Victoria, respectively. As of 2016, Dawson relocated to Los Angeles to be mentored by Animal Kingdom (2010) and Sons of Anarchy (2008) actor Andy McPhee. McPhee is the father and mentor of Kodi Smit-McPhee (Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)) and AACTA-nominated actress Sianoa Smit-McPhee (Darby Drecker in HBO's Hung (2009)). Since 2016, Mr. Dawson has focused on screenwriting and has been a "go-to" script doctor (and ghost writer) for many feature films, short films and series from around the world. In his spare time, Mr. Dawson also runs "Introduction To Filmmaking" masterclasses for disadvantaged kids and passionate media students.