Current/Recent Projects:

I’m currently in post-production for the all-greenscreen fantasy film The Photographist: A Tale of Light and Shadow, inspired by the short story “The Shadow,” by Hans Christian Andersen. I am producer/director, and it’s been an exciting journey so far.

I’m the producer/director/DP/editor of the comedy series Dorkumentary. It’s an improv comedy show I make with my wife, Adria Dawn.

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I was a producer and a director for the stereoscopic 3D television series “Dark Secrets,” for the cable channel 3Net. It has played on TV around the world and on Netflix.

I have some book reviews in CineMontage.

I am the director and a producer of the award-winning feature film Hunter that we shot in Chicago. We are currently distributed on iTunes, Amazon, DVD, Blu Ray and VOD.

I am a producer on the upcoming long form documentary SafeZone, directed by Jodie Livingston and Marco Bollinger. The film is about the resilience of women and girls caught in the chaos of the Syrian refugee crisis. We’ve released three shorts, SafeZone: Fatima’s Story, SafeZone: Potato Girls, and SafeZone: Four Years Later, which have played at the Cannes Film Festival Story Corner.

I produced and co-directed the multimedia production “Dorkumentary Live!” at Stage 773 in Chicago with my wife, Adria Dawn, who wrote and starred in it.

As a partner in Revealing Media Group, I’ve produced, co-directed, shot and edited eight socially focused films for school aged kids, in collaboration with my wife, Adria Dawn. They are distributed world-wide, have won multiple awards and have played the film festival circuit.

I’m David Tarleton. I’m a filmmaker. I make films, television shows, new media productions, theatre, art, music. I am a partner in Tarleton/Dawn Productions.


I am the Chair of the Film and Media Arts Department at Syracuse University, where I teach film directing and editing to graduate and undergraduate students.


Welcome to my site. Here’s some of my laurels.