David Atkins
Producer/Choreographer/Director
Founder & CEO of David Atkins Enterprises
Recognised in the 2003 Queen’s Birthday Honours with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to the entertainment industry, David Atkins is one of Australia’s most awarded producer, director / choreographers. He has starred in, produced, directed, choreographed and created more than 20 musicals in Australia, Britain, the United States, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. In 2000, Juan Antonio Samaranch, the president of the International Olympic Committee, presented David with a Gold Olympic Pin for his outstanding and innovative work as artistic director and producer of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies. David is the first and only Australian to win an MTV award for choreography. His original production Hot Shoe Shuffle was the first Australian musical on London’s West End, for which he won the prestigious Olivier Award and this year the Green Room Award for “Excellence in Choreography for Music Theatre”.
David has directed and produced some of the largest live events of this decade, across continents, languages and international audiences. These include the Ceremonies of the Doha 2006 Asian Games, the Opening, Closing and Victory Ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the Opening Ceremony of Shanghai 2010 World Expo, the 2011 Moscow City Day Anniversary Celebrations, the Opening Ceremony of the New Zealand 2011 Rugby World Cup, the Ceremonies of the 12th Arab Games Doha 2011, the Gold Coast Flag Handover Ceremony of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and most recently the Ceremonies for Qatar 2015, the 24th Men’s Handball World Championship in Doha.
David is the only Australian director and producer whose work on Olympic Ceremonies won Emmy awards, with three wins for the 2010 Vancouver Opening Ceremony. His work in Moscow, Auckland, Doha, Shanghai and Vancouver also earned him two consecutive “Best Export Productions” for 2010 and 2011, as well as the highly prestigious “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the annual Australian Event Awards. In 2012, the Middle East Event Awards recognised David’s work on the Doha 2011 Arab Games Opening Ceremony with an award for “Best Arts & Cultural Event.”
Over and above the enormous body of theatrical, arena and live event work that David has directed and produced, beyond the vast number of awards and nominations, he has revolutionised the way shows are created and produced.