Sunny Zhao
Director/DP
sunny@dreamsfactory.com
Sunny Zhao, an Emmy Award-winning director and founder of Dreams Factory, is one of the most creative, passionate, and fun people you’ll ever meet. His love for filmmaking occupies nearly every waking moment; from the way he tells stories and jokes to the endless hours spent researching film, music, art, fashion, and technology, Sunny thrives on working in a positive and enthusiastic way. For Sunny, passion and emotion are primary ingredients to how he approaches his love for visual storytelling.
Sunny has developed an unmistakable visual style. He strives to capture the beauty and meaning in each element, weaving the footage together with great depth and complexity to create a visual journey that the viewer would want to experience again and again.
Growing up on a nearly abandoned art compound in China, Sunny spent his early childhood wandering through ghostly film sets, performance halls, and rehearsal spaces. It was this quiet and contemplative atmosphere that fostered his imagination. The skills and expertise Sunny has gained as a musician and director have led him to a point where he has the ability to not only visualize a project in his head down to the fine details but also execute it beyond expectations. Whether your film is thirty seconds long or three hours in length, Sunny is a believer in applying his passion and drive one hundred percent. When not filming you’ll find him cooking the finest Chinese dumplings you’ve ever tasted with a smile from ear to ear.
Tim Dowdle
Executive Producer
tdowdle@dreamsfactory.com
Tim Dowdle is the executive producer at Dreams Factory. He also holds a seat on the Board of Directors of The Virginia Production Alliance and the Committee for Workforce Development for film industry in Virginia.
He hails from Kansas City where one of his pivotal high school experiences was working as an assistant manager at a movie theater. It was this exposure to a seemingly endless amount of motion pictures that initiated his real passion for film. After attending Kansas University he moved to the East Coast, living in Annapolis, MD for a period of time, followed by a move to Virginia where he started to work for Dreams Factory in the early 2000s.
Tim has an affinity for anticipating agency and client requirements, as well as the artistic needs of the creative team members; he is the voice of calmness under pressure. Having experienced the production business from all aspects and positions, he has a solid understanding of every department and the sheer amount of teamwork that is required to turn a great concept into an award-winning piece of work.