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Hey, I'm Dawn!
River Falls, Pierce County
2015 Emmy Award winning producer and 2010 McKnight Filmmaking Fellow Dawn Mikkelson’s work has been seen on PBS, OUTtv, and Free Speech TV, and has screened at numerous international festivals including the Galway Film Fleadh, Cambridge Film Festival, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, DocuFest Atlanta, Leipzig DOK Market, American Indian Film Festival, Planet in Focus, and Washington DC Environmental Film Festival. Mikkelson has completed four award-winning independent feature documentaries, The Red Tail, Green Green Water, THIS obedience, and Treading Water: a documentary, which illuminate larger societal issues while creating understanding through the intimate stories of individuals.
A former television news reporter at an ABC affiliate, Mikkelson often speaks and writes on issues around documentary filmmaking and social justice for MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) and at festival panels, colleges, and universities. Mikkelson has taught Documentary Film as Adjunct Faculty at Ottawa University in Kansas, as well as at IFP Minnesota. In 2006 Mikkelson’s film, Hope for Recovery: Understanding Mental Illness (produced in collaboration with Twin Cities Public Television and NAMI-MN) won the Eric Sevareid Award by the Northwest Broadcast News Association (NBNA).
My Projects

Risking Light
Saint Paul, Minnesota• Film Feature
Documentary
A mother embraces her child’s killer. A torture survivor ponders revenge. What is harder, or more crucial, than forgiving the unforgivable?
This project got the green light!

Minnesota Mean
Saint Paul, Minnesota• Film Short
Documentary, Sport
The quirky and powerful women of the internationally competitive MN RollerGirls, risking life and limb for a chance to be best in the world.
This project got the green light!
Projects I'm Supporting

Paris is in Harlem
New York City, New York• Film Feature
Drama, Musical
A multi-character mosaic set in 2017, on the day the infamous Cabaret or No Dancing Law was repealed in NYC.
This project got the green light!

Aloha
Los Angeles, California• Film Short
Drama, Family
Aloha follows one new mom's quest to find the perfect birth announcement after the delivery of her baby doesn't go quite as planned.
This project got the green light!

The Atavist
Pittsfield, Berkshire County• Film Feature
Adventure, Sci-Fi
A young woman travels to the past, but when the things she leaves alter history, she must get them back to save the future.
This project got the green light!

BROTHERS
New York City, New York• Series
Drama, LGBTQ
A group of transgender male friends live, love and bind in Brooklyn.
This project got the green light!

Invisible
New York City, New York• Film Feature
Documentary, Science
Nick decides to help his mom fight Fibromyalgia, a misunderstood syndrome labeled a woman’s disease, then unexpectedly confronts it himself
This project got the green light!

Interference
New York City, New York• Film Short
Drama, Thriller
A violent altercation between a police officer and a black man left one person dead. A couple passing by must decide what they believe.
This project got the green light!

Breasts
New Orleans, Louisiana• Film Short
Drama
When a working mother mentions to her male co-worker that she has to pump her breasts, he slaps her with a sexual harassment complaint.
This project got the green light!

Hutterite
Sioux Falls, South Dakota• Film Short
Drama
Marigold, a young girl living in a Hutterite Colony must choose between her life in the commune and the freedom of the outside world.
This project got the green light!

Self Portrait
New York City, New York• Film Short
Drama, Experimental
A young woman reflects on the authenticity of her parents marriage in a staged dinner scene revealing three individual perspectives.
This project got the green light!

Lady Parts Justice in The New World Order
Chicago, Illinois• Film Feature
Comedy, Documentary
Lizz Winstead's band of Merry Pranksters defends reproductive rights in this documentary by award-winning filmmaker Ruth Leitman.
This project got the green light!

An Act of Terror
Charlotte, Mecklenburg County• Film Short
Drama, History
The true story of Virginia Christian, a 16-year-old African American girl accused of murder in the Jim Crow South.
This project got the green light!

Exposure
Pepin, Wisconsin• Film Feature
Romance, LGBTQ
Two women set off on separate journeys of self-reflection and contemplation. What happened between them? How did the relationship die?
This project got the green light!

Half the Picture
Los Angeles, California• Film Feature
Documentary
HALF THE PICTURE is a feature documentary about working women directors in Hollywood.
This project got the green light!

F*ck Yes Series
Los Angeles, California• Series
Romance, Comedy
F*ck Yes! is what affirmative consent sounds like. Sex made hotter. SoSFW (sort of Safe For Work.)
This project got the green light!

Mrs. Drake
Denver, Colorado• Film Short
Drama
It takes courage and strength to raise a child but it's constant doubt that consumes a parent.
This project got the green light!

Dreams of Daraa (Formerly Entitled The Language of Laughter)
Los Angeles, California• Film Feature
Documentary
Dreams of Daraa. Hanadi dreams of a safe home for her family, but that means fleeing Syria with her daughters and finding her kidnapped husb
This project got the green light!

Custodian
Los Angeles, California• Film Short
Animation, Fantasy
The macabre account of a man whose inner demons drive him to seek redemption in the aftermath of bloodshed.
This project got the green light!

Pin Up! The Movie
Boulder, Colorado• Film Feature
Documentary, Transmedia
Dangerous. Sexy. All American Girl.
This project got the green light!
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Rez Comedy
Red Lake, Beltrami County• Film Feature
Documentary
Two Native American Comedians from different reservations head West to break into the comedy mainstream. Soundtrack by Charlie Parr.
This project got the green light!

Shadows of the Valley
El Paso, Texas• Film Feature
Documentary
When cartel wars erupt in the Valley of Juarez, a man must risk his life to rescue orphans hiding in the shadows of the Valley of Death.
This project got the green light!

A punk Daydream
Los Angeles, California• Film Feature
Documentary
Indonesia has one of the biggest punk scenes in the world, amidst poverty, pollution and oppression.
This project got the green light!

Time Well Spent
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii County• Film Feature
Documentary, Sport
A story of four boys who go on the surf trip of a lifetime to discover their worth, and that your past does not define your future.
This project got the green light!

The Great Flip-Off
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania• Film Feature
Documentary, History
Facing extinction, the last extreme circus bareback riders unite for one final, death-defying performance.
This project got the green light!

Risking Light
Saint Paul, Minnesota• Film Feature
Documentary
A mother embraces her child’s killer. A torture survivor ponders revenge. What is harder, or more crucial, than forgiving the unforgivable?
This project got the green light!

Don't Talk About the Baby
Washington, District of Columbia• Film Feature
Documentary
There shouldn't be a stigma surrounding miscarriage, stillbirth or infertility. This has happened to someone you know--Let's talk about it.
This project got the green light!

The Hard Way
Missoula, Montana• Film Short
Documentary
An inspiring story about an 89-year-old trail runner who does things the hard way to maintain purpose, momentum and vitality.
This project got the green light!

Rideout: One Last Summit
Chiang Mai, Roi Et• Film Feature
Documentary
The story of a man leaving home to go home.
This project got the green light!

A Queen For The People
New York City, New York• Film Feature
Documentary, LGBTQ
Bob the Drag Queen's career is on the rise. Where the hell she off to next?
This project got the green light!
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THE NOISE MADE BY PEOPLE
Seattle, Washington• Film Short
Drama, LGBTQ
When you have been silenced, all you hear is noise.
This project got the green light!

Ordinary Women
San Francisco, California• Series
Animation, History
Feminist Frequency's new video series about defying stereotypes, challenging the status quo, and being extraordinary.
This project got the green light!
Kinesthesia
Los Angeles, California• Film Short
Drama, Shorts Program
Frustrated at her inability to accurately remember a particular time of happiness in her life, Minny sets out to find it again.
This project got the green light!

Radical Roots: The Story of a Food Revolution
Minnesota, United States• Film Feature
Documentary
In the 70s radical youth created an explosion of food co-ops, only to be torn apart in a war over what- and who- their revolution was for.
This project got the green light!
See You On the Other Side
Seattle, Washington• Film Short
Romance, Sci-Fi
Love is a superpower.
This project got the green light!