We were lucky to catch up with Chris Dabney recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Chris thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

My most recent project, Princess Love, has been the most meaningful in my career thus far. I wrote, directed, and produced this short film and had the privilege of directing Oscar & Emmy award nominee Eric Roberts and Heaven Howard, daughter of Oscar & Emmy award nominee Terrence Howard. The story line was a long time coming for me, as it is based off of very taboo topics such as rape, suicide, and teenage pregnancy. The film gave me the opportunity to tackle hard to handle topics, while still giving audiences a palatable delivery. Working with such proven talent, elevated the standard that I hold for myself. I’ve been in production for going on 25 years and I still find myself challenging myself to push my boundaries. I look forward to the next film and setting new goals.

Chris, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve been in involved with all phases of stage, television and film production for going on 25 years. I started out earlier in my career as a theatrically stage-trained actor out of Philadelphia. After migrating to Los Angeles over two decades ago, I performed as an actor in Television and Film, subsequently teaming up with my long time business partner, Don B. Welch where I expanded into writing scripts and producing. We’ve worked together with Don B. Welch Productions for decades. I found my voice through my writing, and sharpened my production organization skills through producing. It was inevitable that I would eventually migrate into directing which is where I am today, rounding me out to be a complete filmmaker. You can’t put a price on experience, it’s the one thing that you just can’t acquire overnight. Triumphs and mistakes carry the same value over time as you learn to perfect your craft… it’s the recipe for progress. It’s through this confidence that I founded the production company King Richard Productions. We have one film completed along with a television series and five other films to go thus far. Being a business owner was always my destiny because I enjoy being in the pilot seat, dictating my own destiny and projects. I’m proud of what I do because it takes hard work and dedication to see projects through. They are all like my babies… I birth them, raise them, then send them off into the world in hopes that they succeed.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

So I share a business partner in Don B. Welch Productions (Donald Welch) and I recently founded my own production company, King Richard Productions. I love telling the story of how Donald and I met because it makes me laugh remembering how clueless I was at the beginning of my career. I was a stage actor in Philadelphia almost 25 years ago, and I was casted in a play called “Annin Street” written and directed by Fred Thomas. This was my first production, so I was pretty green. So after rehearsing for weeks, we were wrapping up tech week, getting ready for the opening night coming up. I was performing my soliloquy and I noticed the sole person sitting in the audience watching the rehearsal. After my performance, I was annoyed that there was someone in the audience unexpectedly and took it up with Fred. I said, “who is that person out there in the audience distracting my rehearsal?” Fred told me it was the producer. I responded to him that I thought he was the producer, and he told me, “no, I”m the director”. I didn’t even know what the difference was, lol. As naive as I was, I learned quickly, and it didn’t take long to land more roles in future productions with them, ultimately leading us to work together as producers on future projects.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Good question. Managing a team isn’t easy. Maintaining high morale isn’t either. But one of the best ways to do so is to treat everyone that works with you as family. When managing a team, you have to be assertive enough to make sure your vision and expectations are crystal clear, yet simultaneously being flexible enough to adjust for your team should the need arise. Nobody wants to follow an ego. It’s important to always remain humble with your work because no matter how much you think you know what you’re doing, there’s always someone else that knows more to whom which you can learn from.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kingrichardproductions.com
• Instagram: @chrismdabney / @kingrichardproductions
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chris.m.dabney / https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556597104724

Image Credits

This is for the MAIN portrait photo only: photography by @michaelletterloughjr