Award-Winning Writer/Actor & Producer

Internationally acclaimed talent with numerous nominations and wins in prestigious film festivals and awards.

Dan Davies Scene

Dan in a scene from the upcoming feature film, "The Lion & The Narcissist"

(Release Date - July 2025)

Not Color Graded

Dan Davies

Dan Davies (born December 25, 1965) is an American actor, screenplay writer, and producer. Davies wrote, co-produced and starred in the comedy film “Ed Gein, the Musical” (2010), about the cannibalistic murderer and graverobber, Ed Gein.

Early life

Davies was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended Waupaca High School in Waupaca, Wisconsin and he graduated with High Honors from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a B.A. in Political Science and English. Davies is of predominant Irish & Welsh heritage and he is also American Indian (Seneca - Iroquois).

Career

In 1997, he wrote and hosted the instructional video, The Games We Used to Play. This video taught kids how to play the old school & physically active games. It was featured and positively reviewed by columnist Bob Greene in the Chicago Tribune.

Davies hosted his own syndicated comedic radio show The Swami, on which he played Achmed Benaben (The Swami), from 1998-2001. The show was syndicated throughout the Midwest. From 2002 to 2004 he hosted two TV shows "Just for the Health of it" and "Now We're Cooking" that were aired throughout Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.

In 2005, Davies and Ron Bullock won the Platinum Remi (aka The Spielberg Award) at the 38th Annual Houston International Film Festival (aka WorldFest). In 2006, the two won a Silver Remi at WorldFest. That same year they also won Best Comedy at the 20th Annual Videomaker Magazine Video Contest and Best Comedy at the Casablanca Futurevision Video Festival.

In late 2007, he started his own production company with Steve Russell. DaviesRussell, LLC is a full-service TV and film production house. One of their first productions was the Rex Piano directed Wienerfest (2009). Davies portrays the drunk yet musclebound and egotistical Hunter Rolph while Russell was the D.P. They also co-produced “Mitakuye Oyasin” (2009).

In 2008-2010 DaviesRussell co-produced, along with Blame Society Films, the internet short comedy "Thor's Kitchen" It starred the "Chad Vader" guys: Matt Sloan, Aaron Yonda and Brad Knight. Davies portrayed a Sword and Sandal, slightly homoerotic, 1950s/60s, badly voice-dubbed Hercules. This comedy short has had over 1,000,000 views in the aggregate

In 2010 he wrote, co-produced and played the title character in “Ed Gein, The Musical”, a micro-budget horror/musical/comedy film. This film went on to have over 500 screenings in cinemas across the US. It then aired nationwide on RetroTV Network and PBS. In 2023 SRS Cinema picked it up for distribution and it enjoyed a limited theatrical release (2023 - 2024). Davies then adapted his original screenplay into a stage play. This play had a very successful world premiere (April 4-6, 2025) at The Time Community Theater in Oshkosh, WI.

Davies co-starred with Sadie Kaye in “Miss Adventure meets Motorhead”, that as of May 29, 2013 was the highest-rated video of all-time on Will Ferrell/HBO's Funny or Die. It was also aired on Radio & Television Hong Kong (RTHK) and Comedy Central (Europe).

He co-starred in the British comedy “Flim, the Movie”, which premiered in London in 2014. It was nominated for Best Film (Raindance Award) at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) December 2014. It was also a selection at the Raindance Film Festival in London and its US premiere was screened simultaneously at the Soho House Cinemas in Chicago, New York, Miami and Los Angeles.

“Ed Gein, the Musical” opened the door for Davies to write the story for the critically acclaimed film, “West of Thunder” (2015) He, along with Jody Marriott Bar-Lev, wrote the screenplay for the film. The creative advisors on the film included Lakota elders and Academy Award winner Michael Blake. In it Davies plays the starring role of Henry Seed. West of Thunder went on to win the Political Film Society's Best Film (Peace) and Best Film (Human Rights) becoming the first film in their almost 30 year existence to win both categories. It was also awarded, along with Django Unchained, the Best Western at the Almeria Western Film Festival in Almeria, Spain. In honor of the 40th Annual American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco, CA it was chosen a Top-10 All-Time film among such classics as “Dances with Wolves”, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” and “Last of the Mohicans”. It aired worldwide on Hulu (2015-2017) and consistently remained a Top 10 Western during its run on that streaming service.

Dan's next movie, “Tempting Fate” (2015) was one of the first Hollywood meets Nollywood films. In it he plays the Russian/Kazakh gang leader Scorpion Dmitrov. He co-stars along with Nollywood legend Ramsey Nouah. “Tempting Fate” was directed by Kevin Nwankwor. It was the first Nollywood film to garner a Dove Seal of Approval rating, It premiered at the Pan African Film Festival in 2015 and is a Top 100 Nollywood box office film of all-time

Davies also co-starred with Ayo Makun, Funke Akindele, Nse Ikpe-Etim and Eric Roberts in the Nollywood/Hollywood comedy “A Trip to Jamaica” that was released in September, 2016. This film also premiered in London in Dec 2016 and held the highest per-screen average in the UK during its box office run.The film has been nominated in 5 categories for the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards 2017. It also has been nominated for a 2017 African Academy Award (Best Comedy) It was the No. 1 Nollywood box office film of 2016, and, as of December 2016, became the No. 1 Nollywood box office film of all time. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Comedy) along with Majid Michel and John Dumelo in the 2017 Golden Movie Awards for his work in “A Trip to Jamaica”. He won the award July 22. The award ceremonies were televised on the African Movie Channel throughout Africa as well as the UK, Germany, France and The Netherlands. As of 2025, this film is a Top 20 Nollywood Box Office Film of All-Time. It aired on Netflix 2020-2022 and remained a Top 10 International Comedy during its tenure on Netflix. Davies is also the No. 1 American Actor in Nollywood Box Office history...besting Academy award nominated Eric Roberts and “Lethal Weapon” legend Danny Glover.

In 2019 Dan created the National Independent Film Association (NIFA Awards) to honor independent film & TV. The NIFA Awards is a prestigious film and music festival held at the Appleton Beer Factory in Appleton, WI. Its mission is to also recognize and celebrate the outstanding achievements of independent artists in the entertainment industry. Each year, they honor legends like Sir Sean Connery, Neal McCoy, Randy Travis, Tom Sizemore, Penny Marshall and Jeff Olm with Lifetime Achievement Awards & Legend Awards while also highlighting & honoring the best TV shows, films, scripts and music videos of the year. The 7th Annual NIFA Awards Show is Oct 4, 2025.

His next film (supporting role) "The Runners" with Tom Sizemore and Neal McCoy was released on Amazon and was a Top 10 New Release in the Thriller and Action categories. Since its premiere July 14th 2020 it has been on many top film lists with the latest being Tubi's No.1 Thriller Film (July, 2021).

He plays a recurring role on the Mental Ideas Radio show on Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK-Radio 3). This show was nominated (Sept 22nd, 2020) for an Association of International Broadcasters Award (AIB Award) in its respective category (Radio & Audio). The AIB awards ceremony was televised worldwide via Al Jazeera Nov 13th, 2020.

He's written a semi-autobiographical book entitled The Rantings of a Madman on Facebook that was published March 2021 (Renegade Press) and a self-effacing self help book entitled, Danmegeddan, The Book: How to be the best you even during the Zombie Deer Apocalypse. (April 2024 Renegade Press)

His film (Supporting Role) the psychological horror, "I Dream of a Psychopomp" premiered at the historic Music Box Theatre in Chicago, IL Sept 3rd, 2021 and will be distributed nationwide via Terror Films.

In 2025 Dan's film (co-star, co-director & producer) “The Lion & the Narcissist”, will be premiering in Milwaukee on July 11th. This film is based on an Amazon best seller and will be getting a limited theatrical run throughout the Midwest. He is also producing and co-starring in a reimagined remake of the 1975 film, "The Giant Spider Invasion". This film is considered a cult classic and a Top 50 Box Office film of 1975. It also became one of the most watched episodes in Mystery Science Theater 3000 and the most watched in Rifftrax history. “The Giant Spider Invasion” remake will be directed by the film’s original director, Bill Rebane.

In 2025 he was honored with EduRank’s University of Wisconsin (La Crosse) Top 20 Most Notable Alumni.

His latest TV pilots/films "A Forest Dark" and "Deermegeddon, The Musical" are currently being shopped around for national episodic distribution and feature film development.

He has been featured in over 1000 media including CBS (National) News, CNN, Fox News National (America’s News HQ) BBC, NPR, PBS, PRI, USA Today, RTHK (Radio TV Hong Kong), Al Jazeera, The Financial Times (UK), Variety, TV Insider, Hollywood Reporter, Forbes, Bloomberg News, Coast to Coast AM etc etc etc

(Courtesy Of Wikipedia & IMDb)