We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kevin Dawson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kevin, thanks for joining us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

The first money I ever earned as an actor was when I was part of a traveling cowboy stunt show. I was fresh out of college and heard about the company through an audition forum. I got to travel out of state, do three shows a day, and handle firearms while playing a stereotypical loudmouth western antagonist. It was all so exciting and I definitely think it was a pretty unique first steady paycheck as an actor.

Kevin, 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 performing for as long as I can remember. I always had a love for sketch comedy (Chris Farley and John Candy are my heroes), I channeled this into writing myself sketches for talent shows in school growing up. But I don’t think I considered myself a focused actor until my sophomore year of high school. That’s when I started really studying the craft and finding my place and that ultimately led to me starring as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple my Senior year of high school. After that I knew what direction I wanted my life to go in and I went on to study theatre at Texas Wesleyan University. While there I took it upon myself to branch out as much as possible and challenge myself as much as I could and through this I discovered a deep love and passion for writing and directing. A piece I wrote was even selected for a staged reading while in school. I’ve carried this passion ever since and am working on my scripts on a daily basis. I feel that as a writer and director I’m able to tackle subjects and themes that I’m not typically considered for as an actor and that’s what excites me the most about it. I want my work as a filmmaker to highlight the way I see the world. Beauty and tragedy existing side by side. And there I am able to tackle social and political issues with my perspective and bring something new to these conversations as much as possible. As a straight white man I am aware of the privilege that I inherently bring with me, but I don’t intend to ever make anything that doesn’t reflect the rich diversity of the world as I know it.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The collaborative process of performing arts is what has always lit a fire inside of me. I think in filmmaking and in live theater there is no aspect that is more important than another. It’s a beautiful thing when a group of artists (many of whom are strangers to each other in the beginning) can come together and in such a short amount of time build something so special and beautiful. When it all clicks there is truly nothing like it.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Get back to a place where working class artists have an avenue to exposure again. It’s always been somewhat of a “who you know” situation, but it feels like the past 5+ years have seen the doors shut almost completely on artists who don’t already come from some form of money or connections. The best art in the world will always be made by artists who are doing it because it is everything to them. Hunger and passion are the pillars of the working class artist and I hope to see film, theater, and music open up those doors again to all of us who are trying to tread water right now.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: therealkevindawson
• Youtube: dawsonproductions