Meet Dempsey Gibson | Film and Television Writer, Director, Producer and Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dempsey Gibson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dempsey, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born in Atlanta, GA. and lived there until I was 10 years old. My parents divorced and I moved with my mother to her home state of North Carolina. I grew up in a small town there called Kannapolis ( home of George Clinton) 30 minutes north of Charlotte with a population of about 36,000 people. The impact that had on me as a 10 year old boy was profound. Put aside the stress of parents divorcing the culture shock of moving from an urban city like Atlanta to a small country town like Kannapolis was complete night and day. One minute I was in a world where everything was Black. All my friends, my school, my neighbored even the main shopping center where we all went, Greenbriar Mall, was African American. Moving to Kannapolis, everything was completely opposite. At first it manifested itself in me by making me extremely introverted. I was pretty outgoing in Atlanta but, I suppose as some sort of coping mechanism, I just got quiet and stayed to myself the first year or so in North Carolina. I eventually warmed up and made friends but it took a long time. The impact that has on me today is it gave me a realtime dose of race relationship. What I mean by that is even though I was comfortable in Atlanta my only knowledge of white people came from television so I was limited as to new experiences with people of a different background. Having that dramatic a change gave me the tools to engage more than just my culture. That gift has served me well.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Three things. “Batman”, “The Monkees” and comic books! True story. I feel in love with Batman and Robin as a kid and my parents supplied me with action figures, the Batmobile and the Batcave to play with when I was still in Atlanta. I must have been about 7 or 8. I would make up dialogue and situations, I would stage what was about to happen like I was putting on a play. so much more than just ramming them into each other like they were fighting and put them away. It really became a craft. Sometimes I would even perform the episodes I conceived with my troop for my mom! Then I discovered The Monkees! Micky Dolenz gave me my first real “I can do that” inspiration. He sang and played drums at the same time and for whatever reason that connected with me. From that point on I started playing drums, masquerading as cardboard boxes, and singing. I also started writing songs around the same time. I knew I had a hope of talent at least when one of my cousins heard one of my songs and swore I didn’t write it because he had heard it on the radio! I started playing in bands in NC and became an award winning professional musician with a 10 year career. During that time I won three “Best Male Vocalist”, one “Best Band” and One “Best Songwriter” awards. When my Mother was diagnosed with Alzheimers in 2014, I gave up the music and took care of her at home full time. A wonderful young woman named Tiffany came in a few days to care for Mom but I was her primary so that took away the freedom to rehearse and play with a band and club dates were definitely out but I dont regret it. I had a very successful run as a musician and knowing my mom could stay home with me where she felt the most safe was way more important to me. I took care of my mother four years until she passed away in 2018. During that time I started writing screenplays and creating television shows. I had written a show called “The Dearly Departed” in 2012. I was lucky enough to produce an extended trailer for it and it had it’s debut at The Gem Theater in Kannapolis. That’s the only thing my Mom got to see of mine on screen, she was so happy! It was a great night and it fueled me to write even more. All total ,in those four years, I wrote three film screenplays and created eight television series. My manager at the time introduced me to actor Markice Moore. He and I co-wrote the original script for the horror film “Spaghetti” in 2019 while I was still in NC. After pitching it sold to Skinfly Productions in 2021, was produced in 2022 and released to Apple TV, Amazon and other streamers in 2023! “Spaghetti” also won several film awards including a win from Cannes! My television comedy, “Inherent Problems” was optioned by ReelVision Entertainment and my 4 part docu-series, “Love in Black and White”, is in pre production currently. I had a real “now or never” moment in 2019. I put $20k into my home to prepare it for max value on the market. Sold my “all paid for” home, cars, furniture, gave away a lot of clothes, basically left everything comfortable in pursuit of a dream. I knew nobody in Hollywood. I had no reputation or representation. All I had was the money from the sale of my house and a case full of scripts when I got to LA…in October of 2020…during the pandemic and industry shutdown…maybe I should make a movie about that! Hows this for full circle. a few months after I optioned “Inherent Problems” I got in touch with a woman I met at a comic con two years earlier in 2018. Her name is Jodi and she works with Micky Dolenz. I told her about my idea for a Monkees movie and she hooked me up with a Zoom call meeting with my childhood idol. The guy that inspired me to sing and play drums when I was a kid I was now on the phone with talking about my shows and ideas. Micky could not have been a nicer guy and after finding out I optioned my show only 6 months after arriving in LA he called me a “success story.” After the call I went to enter it in my journal and I noticed something that still makes me emotional. The original call with Micky had to be pushed so the call I was on was a rescheduled one. The day and month of the rescheduled call, was the same day and month my mother passed away, three years earlier. You talk about a moment, that was a moment.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Have to take them to “Pinks” for a chilli dog and “Musso and Frank” for an iconic Hollywood dining experience. Then to Inglewood for ribs at Woodys and chicken and waffles at Roscoe’s! Either the Hollywood Bowl or The Greek for a show and of course the Walk of Fame! Whats not to love about LA? It’s the most unique place on the planet. I LOVE THIS TOWN!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people that have helped me I could seriously take up all your copy space naming them but I’ll give you the highlight reel. # 1 in my late mother, Hazel Johnson. She was my best friend and biggest supporter. She was a school teacher that went through tremendous struggle for a portion of her life but never gave up. That “bend but don’t break” example set by her instilled itself in me. She often said “I never quit” and I don’t because of her. Any part of me that’s decent is because of my Mother. #2 is my family. My cousins, Leon, Clement, Edward and Rob are like brothers. My actual brothers Timothy and Terrance are always there for me when it counts and my aunt Adelaide is like my second Mom. They were all very supportive of my move to LA and this dream of mine. Lastly, my friends. Truly too many to name but Tina and Cathy, I could not imagine my life without either of them. Dean, Jeff, Kevin, Susan from high school are my family in need of a tan and James Ill keep around even though he’s a Tarheel and I love Duke! I have to shout out also that here in LA my friends Diane Bell, Jayson Smiley, S.K. Dayne, Almayvonne Dixon, Leland Heflin and Jen Grisanti have all gone above and beyond to help a kid with stars in his eyes. One last thing, my buddy Mike. He and I use to date the same girl (years apart) The two of us became friends while I was with the lady. That relationship only lasted two years but Mike and I have been friends for almost 20! He, like a number of my friends, have helped me through some rough days and asked nothing in return. I’m a very lucky guy.

Website: https://www.dempseygibson.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dempseygibson/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dempseygibson/

Twitter: https://x.com/DempseyGibson?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7847489/ – IMDb