Benjamin Dawson

My role

I’m the Blonde who takes care of production and oversees the process. My role is really all about people and making sure everyone is focused and happy and doing what they love and translating that love into great work.

It’s important to me that everyone feels supported and that the atmosphere is really positive and inclusive. We’re not just a bunch of individuals with our own talents and agendas but a real team here at Blonde. It’s one of the reasons we have long-standing relationships with our clients and why we get super talented people who like working here and freelancers who keep coming back to work with us. It’s why we consistently produce a high standard of work; and, in essence, my job is making sure it stays that way.

Doug and I work collaboratively when it comes to creative – together we oversee the visual and verbal style of all work and make sure we’re happy with every element as we’re both fussy old perfectionists.

My roots

I wanted to be a marine biologist because Richard Dreyfuss was a marine biologist in Jaws. I failed biology so I read Media Arts with Theatre at university, so I could again become Richard Dreyfuss in Jaws. I flunked Theatre so I focused on Media.

I went on to make lots of short art films and threw super8 cameras wrapped in bubble wrap around until I got my first job at McCann Erickson as an in-house tape-to-tape editor. I became an editor then camera operator, filmed loads of gigs and eventually directed 3 commercials for XBOX. I Left McCann and became a freelance jack-of-all-trades.

I started my own production company to focus on projects that I was passionate about. Blonde has become my focus and my inspiration; I’m really proud of what we do and how we do it. I no longer want to be Richard Dreyfuss.