‘BATTLE OF THE BULBS’ PRODUCTION BIOS
DAN PAULSON (Executive Producer) - A native of New York City, Dan Paulson graduated with Honors, receiving a B.A. from Boston University, as well as an MBA from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business.
Paulson began his career in the entertainment industry with NBC, where he worked as an executive in business affairs. Leaving NBC to begin a freelance career, he produced television commercials and industrial films, before joining 20th Century Fox as a story editor, eventually being promoted to the position of production executive. Paulson remained with Fox until he formed his own production company, Daniel L. Paulson Productions.
Under the banner of his newly formed company, Paulson developed, packaged and produced a number of theatrical films, television movies and several series pilots, including “Comes a Horseman,” starring James Caan, Jane Fonda and Richard Farnsworth, who received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar ® nomination. Paulson also produced the TV movie “Thaddeus Rose and Eddie,” starring Johnny Cash and Diane Ladd. In addition, he executive produced and received the Christopher Award for the NBC TV movie “Victims for Victims.”
Paulson joined Dick Clark Productions as VP in charge of movies and series. He served as executive producer for such films as the CBS TV movies “Starfever” and “Copacabana,” which received two Emmy ® nominations. Other projects for Dick Clark Productions included the TV movies “Promised a Miracle” and “Town Bully,” and the ABC pilot “Remo Williams,” starring Roddy McDowell.
Upon leaving Dick Clark Productions, Paulson produced a number of theatrical films including “Backtrack,” starring Jodie Foster, Charlie Sheen, Joe Pesci, Dean Stockwell, Vincent Price and Dennis Hopper, who also directed; “Passenger 57,” starring Wesley Snipes, and “Sunset Park.” Under Daniel L. Paulson Productions’ overall agreement with Showtime Entertainment, Paulson produced “Mr. and Mrs. Loving,” “Inside” and “North Shore Fish.”
Also for Showtime, Paulson produced “A Cooler Climate,” which garnered Emmy nominations for stars Sally Field and Judy Davis; “Bonanno: A Godfather’s Story,” a four-hour miniseries starring Martin Landau, Edward James Olmos and Robert Loggia, and “Gift of Love: The Daniel Huffman Story,” which received two Emmy nominations, one for Paulson as the producer of an Outstanding Children’s Special, and the other for Outstanding Performer in a Children’s Special for Debbie Reynolds.
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Paulson recently produced the series “Staffers” for Discovery Times as well as the pilot presentations “Reality Check” and “Hot 97” for VH-1 and MTV, as well as “Pictures of Hollis Woods,” starring Sissy Spacek and Alfre Woodard for Hallmark Hall of Fame/CBS. Spacek received a Golden Globe nomination, Ms. Woodard received an Emmy nomination and the film won a Christopher Award, a Television Academy Honors Award, a CAMIE Award and was a Humanitas finalist.
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SHAWN WILLIAMSON (Executive Producer) – With over 20 years experience, Shawn Williamson has risen to the forefront of the Canadian film and television industry as a leading independent film and television producer. A native of Vancouver, Shawn began his career as a stage manager in live theatre in 1983 as has since produced live events, live television, television series, television movies as well as feature films. In 2001, Shawn combined his film production expertise with the talents of independent producer Stephen Hegyes to form Brightlight Pictures, Inc.
Shawn has filmed in many international destinations including Romania, Ireland, Singapore, France, England and South Africa. “Fifty Dead Men Walking” (Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess), a Canada/Ireland coproduction with Future Films and Handmade Films shot in Belfast and had a Gala Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Shawn recently completed shooting the TV series “Stormworld,” a Canadian/Australian co-production which filmed in Australia, Singapore and Canada.
Shawn’s producing credits include Brightlight Pictures’ most successful coproduction to date, “White Noise” (starring Michael Keaton), which was a Canada/UK coproduction and has grossed more than $100 million since its release in 2005. Other past producing credits include “Alone in the Dark” (Christian Slater, Tara Reid, released by Lions Gate Films), “The Long Weekend” (Chris Klein, Brendan Fehr) and “Edison” (Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, LL Cool J, Justin Timberlake). Shawn also produced “In the Name of the King” (Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, John Rhys-Davies, Ron Perlman, Leelee Sobieski, Burt Reynolds), “White Noise II” (Nathan Fillion) with Gold Circle Films and Rogue, and the television series “Saved” (Tom Everett Scott) for Fox 21 and TNT.
Shawn has line produced both “Wicker Man” (Nicholas Cage, release by Warner Bros.) and “88 Minutes” (Al Pacino) for Millennium Films, as well as “Whisper” (Josh Holloway, Joel Edgerton, Dule Hill) and “Slither” (Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks and Michael Rooker, released by Universal Pictures) for Gold Circle Films. He has also line produced the independent features “Possession” (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Lee Pace) for Yari Film Group, Vertigo Entertainment and Spitfire Pictures, along with “Passengers” (Anne Hathaway) for Mandate Pictures. Shawn produced “They Wait” (Jamie King), and executive produced the television series “About A Girl” aired by the N Network and Global TV.
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Shawn executive produced the recently wrapped “Frankie and Alice” (starring Halle Berry, Stellan Skarsgard) along with season two of the television series “The Guard” with Halifax Film and Global TV. He is currently producing the Canadian western “Gunless” (Paul Gross) with Rhombus Media.
Shawn chairs the City of Vancouver Industry Film Task Force and sits on the boards of each of the Whistler Film Festival, The Leo Awards and the BC Film Commission Advisory Committee. Shawn has received several awards including: The Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2006 (for Brightlight Pictures Inc.), and Business Vancouver’s 40 under 40 Award in 2004.
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HARVEY FROST (Director) – Harvey Frost was born in Hampstead, London. After beginning his career as a director in London, his work took him to Toronto and eventually to his current home, Los Angeles. Known as an actor’s director, many members of the casts on his projects have won or been nominated for awards for their work with him. In addition, his work has either won or been nominated for numerous awards, including an Emmy ® for the series “Avonlea,” a WorldFest Silver Star for “National Lampoon’s Golf Punks” and the Leo Best Picture Award for “Two of Hearts.” Frost and his wife have four children, along with two dogs and one cat.
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W. Paul Thompson (Writer) – W. Paul Thompson has been writing screenplays for over 10 years. He is a graduate of Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He and his wife, Kelly, live in The Woodlands, Texas (near Houston) and have two children. The comedy, “Battle of the Bulbs,” is his first produced feature, and he previously optioned another comedy called “Mad Zucchini.”
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