The Crew

David Nixon

Director/Producer

Originally from Sydney, Australia, David Nixon has been producing and directing documentaries in Russia, India, and throughout Europe; feature films such as Fireproof, Facing the Giants, Making Waves; national commercials for SUBWAY® Restaurants, Nickelodeon Family Suites, Walt Disney World Resorts, and capital campaign films for churches such as First Baptist Naples, Shades Mountain Baptist, and Valleydale Baptist Church, for the past 25 years. His success is due to his ability to create classic, elegant images that evoke emotion and induce heartfelt response. From high above the earth to deep underwater, from directing children and animals to motion capture on green screen, David’s expertise with all facets of production provides a big picture perspective enabling him to create the absolute best, from start to finish. David was first called on by Sherwood Baptist Church to produce the wildly successful movie Facing the Giants. By bringing together a small group of Christian technicians with the volunteer help of the entire church, Nixon was able to give a $100,000 project a big screen look, and ultimately garner over $10 million at the box office; it has now grossed $35 million in DVD and foreign sales. After the impressive accomplishments of Facing the Giants, Sherwood Baptist Church called on David and his team to bring their expertise to Sherwood’s third feature Fireproof. Fireproof was named the #1 independent film of 2008 and grossed $33.4 million as the box office. David is now working on bringing Christian film making to Orlando, FL.

Kim Dawson

Creative Development/Producer

Cameron “Kim” Dawson is a 30-year veteran of the entertainment industry. He has produced megahit movies like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and TV shows like "The Mickey Mouse Club." He produced Bobby Jones Stroke of Genius starring Jim Caviezel. He served as Director of Original Programming for Showtime Networks for six years and was a Producer for Trans World International, the world’s leading sports television production company. Kim has a strong background in integrated marketing strategies and has been a proponent of new digital media distribution for many years. Kim represents an extensive slate of family friendly projects and has developed a worldwide network of entertainment business associates in both traditional and new media.

Tom Swanson

Financial Development/Executive Producer

Tom Swanson’s background includes thirty plus years in the sports and entertainment marketing industry handling major sponsorship programs for such clients as Hershey, Reebok, Dunlop/Slazenger, McDonalds, Coca Cola, Georgia Pacific, Bausch & Lomb, UPS, Blue Cross & Blue Shield and M&M Mars. Currently Tom is serving Possibility Pictures as its chief fund-raiser and marketing officer. Over the years, Tom has been recognized as one of the industry’s leading sponsorship and event marketing specialists. Tom recently executive produced his first feature film Come Away Home. Along with his Executive Producer duties, Tom secured all of the sponsorship and product placements for the film. Tom's time and talent are focused on building Possibility Pictures into the category leader in faith-based films and media.

Sandra Thrift

Creative Director/Screenwriter

Sandra Thrift has 20 years experience in the film and video industry as a Writer and Producer. She started as a Broadcast Creative Director for May Company in Jacksonville, Florida, and honed her creative skills in various advertising agencies throughout Maryland and Florida before partnering with David Nixon in 1995 to form DNP STUDIOS. Her career has produced many award winning videos. In her role as Vice President of Creative Services, Sandra leads the team in developing the creative message as well as functioning as a managing producer—ensuring the integrity of the creative direction and bringing the project in on time and on budget. Making Waves, Sandra’s first feature film as a Writer/Producer, enjoyed commercial success and continues in DVD. Since, she has written three other feature film screenplays—Saving Livingston, Storytellers and The Rivalry and continues to produce for multiple $1M plus projects. Sandy is also co-owner and a managing member for Possibility Pictures, LLC.

Patrick Doughtie

Writer/Co-Director

First time writer and father of the boy that inspired Letters to God, Patrick wrote the original draft of the screenplay and is on set acting as the Co-Director to David Nixon.

Bob Scott

Director of Photography

Scott’s career as a cinematographer has spanned the past 20 years—and the globe. He started out as a documentary cameraman and has worked his way up to becoming one of the premiere sports & action cinematographers in the country. He has worked on major Hollywood Feature Films including Matt Damon’s Bourne Ultimatum, Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday and with Billy Bob Thornton in Friday Night Lights. Recently Bob DP’ed action sequences for the hits For the Money starring Matthew McConaughey & Dennis Quaid’s The Express. He also worked on films like 2Fast 2Furious, Taladega Nights and Gridiron Gang. In addition, he was the Director of Photography on Sherwood Pictures two films Facing the Giants and Fireproof. Scott’s ability to “make something out of nothing” cinematically and his “can do” attitude have led to a strong partnership between him and David Nixon for the past 20 years. Bob is on the rise as a premiere Cinematographer and is well versed in both 35mm and high definition formats.

Patrick Tyler

Editor

Patrick Tyler has nine years production experience with six years as a commercial and corporate video editor. He has worked with clients including Walt Disney World Resorts, NFL Films, Independent Film Channel, The Victory Group, Florida Citrus Bowl Parade, Massey Services, and Ginn Resorts. He has worked on several award-winning shorts including, Dudley and the Toy Keeper’s Chest. He is very excited to be working on his first feature film, as well as being able to work closely with David Nixon, Director, and Bob Scott, Director of Photography.

Mark Garner

Production Designer

Graduate of the University of Florida College of Architecture, Florida native Mark Garner has been in the film business for 20 years. He lived in Los Angeles for a short period of time, but, when asked to do projects in Miami and Orlando, decided to move back. God blessed him with an opportunity to make a name for himself on the east coast and never went back to California. Mark has worked on such films as Beethoven’s Big Break, Pride, Miami Vice, and The Notebook. “I wake up every morning and am so grateful to God for the blessings of my life”, Mark says. Upon completion of Letters to God, Mark was called to Savannah to work with Robert Redford on his latest project and hopes to work on all future Possibility Pictures projects.

Beverly Safier

Costume Designer

Beverly Safier has designed costumes for stage, television, and feature films for over 30 years. Born in Georgia and raised all over the world, she has a tremendous love of costuming from all countries. After finishing studies in Europe, Beverly returned to the U.S. and began designing off Broadway productions in New York. The natural migration into film began immediately. She claims that designing youthful projects keeps her young and designing period projects keeps her grounded. Her love of all projects keeps her working. Beverly is a member of the Costume Designers Guild 892 located in Sherman Oaks, CA, and USA Scenic Artists 829 located in New York.

Colin O’Malley

Composer

A composer for film and television, Colin’s clients include the Walt Disney Company, Electronic Arts, the United States Air Force, Eidos, and Universal Studios. In 2005 he received an Emmy nomination for his score to the PBS WW II documentary “The Last Reunion: A Gathering of Heroes.” Other scoring credits include Superman Returns for Warner Bros. Interactive/EA and Tomb Raider Underworld for Eidos/Crystal Dynamics.

Colin’s passion is writing for orchestra. His music has been recorded and performed by a variety of orchestras around the world, including the Northwest Symphonia, the United States Air Force Band of the Rockies, the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra, the Nashville String Machine and contract orchestras and choirs in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Florida. His music has also been performed for one U.S. President.

Colin is active in the world of advertising. His advertising clients include Disney, Nickelodeon, and Universal Studios. In 2005, Colin received a Gold Addy award for composition in advertising.

In addition to his own composition projects, Colin works as an an orchestrator and arranger for the recording artist “Yanni.” Projects with Yanni include music for the NBC broadcast of the Olympics, the theme for U.S. Open Golf on CBS, “Yanni Live: The Concert Event” and Yanni’s current project: Yanni Voices.