Her Story
About Dana
Dana Carlson is a Senior Creative Producer within Disney Live Entertainment and Visual Media Production, based in Orlando, Florida. She has spent nearly fourteen years with The Walt Disney Company, joining in 2012 as a video editor before steadily rising through roles as Associate Producer, Creative Producer, and ultimately Senior Creative Producer in 2024. In her current role, she provides creative direction across the full lifecycle of assigned projects, leading multidisciplinary teams of artists, animators, designers, engineers, and editors to develop original multimedia content for Disney's parks, resorts, and cruise ships worldwide. Among her most notable accomplishments is guiding the projection mapping content for Walt Disney World's 50th anniversary nighttime spectaculars, a project that showcased her ability to merge technical precision with large-scale creative storytelling.
A graduate of North Carolina State University, Dana holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Film/Cinema/Video Studies and Communication and Media Studies, and she is also certified in Avid Video Editing. Her career reflects a rare blend of artistic vision and technical execution, having partnered with teams across Disney's many branches, including Imagineering, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Disney Cruise Line, and Corporate, to bring ambitious creative concepts to life. Whether directing live productions, developing immersive projection experiences, or leading cross-functional creative teams, she approaches every project with the same underlying goal: crafting stories that leave a lasting emotional impact on audiences. In recognition of her contributions to the entertainment industry, she has been selected as an Influential Woman representing Orlando, Florida for 2026.
Guided by values of hard work, excellence, kindness, and empathy, Dana believes strongly in collaborative leadership and never expecting success to come without effort. She is candid about the challenges facing her field today, particularly the task of adopting artificial intelligence responsibly while ensuring that human creativity remains at the center of the entertainment experience. A vocal advocate for women in her male-dominated industry, she encourages the next generation not to limit themselves or allow others to do so, reminding them that opportunity often reveals itself only to those willing to take the first step. Above all, Dana credits her success to a lifelong passion for storytelling, disciplined training, and an unwavering commitment to bringing people together to create unforgettable experiences.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Dana
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to a lifelong commitment to creativity and storytelling, paired with the formal training I gained in film and media. Beyond that, it's come down to persistent hard work, a constant pursuit of excellence, and leading with a collaborative mindset in everything I do.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I've ever received is simple: just be a nice person. Technical skills can always be learned, but if you're not someone people want to work with, that will hold you back far more than any skill gap ever could.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I'd tell young women entering this industry not to limit themselves, and not to let others limit them either, especially because of their gender. My field is male-dominated, but that should never be a reason to hold back. You won't know what you're capable of until you try, so go for it.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge I see right now is AI. It's about adopting AI tools ethically while keeping our work human-centric, finding the right balance so we don't fall behind technologically, but also without doing so at the expense of human creativity and the creatives who drive it.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that matter most to me are hard work, excellence, kindness, and empathy. I believe in not expecting things to be handed to you, always giving my best effort, pushing beyond what's simply acceptable, and valuing teamwork above all.
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