PROJECTION DESIGNER

Deco Dawson began as a playwright and director before turning to cinema. In 2005 he was invited to create projections for the stage production Silverwing, a show that needed someone fluent in both film and theatre. That project brought him back to the stage. From 2005 to 2018 he worked as a professional projection designer, drawing on his background in film and post-production effects and his years as a playwright and director.

Dawson’s projection work has been featured at the New Victory Theater Off-Broadway, the 2015 Pan Am Games, the 2010 Cultural Olympiad in Vancouver, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Canadian Stage in Toronto and the Vancouver Playhouse. The New York Times called his projections “jaw-dropping,” and TheaterMania wrote that “Dawson’s beautiful projections are the highlight of the production.”

He has collaborated with theatre, dance and music artists on intricate projection designs, including site-specific productions. Dawson has an ongoing collaboration with composer Phil Kline and filmmaker Jim Jarmusch on contemporary opera entitled The Lives and Dreams of Nikola Tesla.