About

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About

DLAP Group is an award-winning corporation focusing on commercial entertainment across the globe.

Founded by Dan Looney and Adam Paulden, they welcomed award-winning audio drama, film, television and theatre producer Jason Haigh-Ellery as a board member in 2017.

DLAP focuses on five core areas: Production, IP, Business Services, Venues and Education. Under these divisions it operates the companies Creative Rights International, Fourth Wall Live, MTS, Very Social and Ace Pantomimes. 

DLAP won the coveted Best New Musical award at the 23rd Annual WhatsOnStage.com awards for its production of Bonnie & Clyde at the Arts Theatre, West End. The company also won four Olivier awards for its co-production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical, Company at the Gielgud Theatre in London’s West End. DLAP received the Best Musical Award at the 2019 Deagu International Musical Festival in South Korea for its production of The Wedding Singer.  

Previous productions highlights include: Rock of Ages (2 UK Tours and Germany), Curtains, starring Jason Manford (UK Tour and Wyndham’s Theatre, West End), a hit revival of Jason Robert-Brown’s musical, The Last Five Years (Garrick Theatre, West End), the 30th Anniversary production of Fame! the musical (UK and Europe tour and Peacock Theatre, West End), The Wedding Singer (UK Tour, Wembley Park Theatre and South Korea), The Last King of Scotland (Sheffield Crucible) and The Phantom Of The Opera in Concert (Beau Sejour, Guernsey).

In 2020, DLAP launched the IP company, Creative Rights International (CRI), backed by venture capitalist investor, Station12. CRI has twelve projects in development, including Burlesque (based on the hit Sony movie starring Cher and Christina Aguilera), Midnight Cowboy (based on the legendary novel and MGM movie), When Elvis Met The Beatles (based on a true story documented in the book of the same name), The World According to Grandpa (the stage adaptation of the celebrated children’s TV programme), Samson (a new musical based on the biblical tale), Glow Up (based on the hit television series), The Monster Bride (based on the dark-comedy novel ‘Never The Bride’) and a new jukebox musical, Young Hearts Run Free.  

In 2020 DLAP formed a new live concerts and events company, Fourth Wall Live as a joint venture with renowned concert promoter, Darren Bell. Fourth Wall produced the Live in London season at the Hippodrome Casino in London’s West End and several other concerts including Bonnie & Clyde (Theatre Royal Drury Lane – box office record breaker for the fastest sell-out concert in the theatre’s history), Frank Wildhorn, Keala Settle, Shoshana Bean and Jenna Russell at Cadogan Hall, Broadway legend Audra McDonald in concert at The London Palladium, Jeremy Jordan in concert at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Jordan Luke Gage at Outernet and, forthcoming, Jeremy Jordan and The Age of Madness at Outernet, Sierra Bogges at Cadogan Hall, Benjammin Rauhala at Codgan hall and Oscar-winner, Ariana DeBose at The London Palladium. The company most recently signed a joint-venture deal with leading TV and Film company, Fulwell73, for a series of filmed concerts. 

In 2022, DLAP became joint partners in Musical Theatre Studio (MTS), a new performing arts college in Sunderland. The college offers musical theatre training through a dynamic and fulfilling college experience.

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Dan Looney

Founder - CEO

Dan is a Producer, Actor and Composer. He appeared as ‘Elder Poptarts’ in the West End production of the Tony Award-winning musical The Book of Mormon. His previous producing credits include Bouncers, Spring Awakening, The Wedding Singer, Anything Goes and One Night of Impro.

His composing credits include The Confession Room (The Other Palace Theatre, London); Judy – The Righteous (Trafalgar Studios, West End); Swear Our Love (London) and the score to the feature film, Opening Night of the Living Dead. Dan has also won multiple awards as one half of the radio show The Dan and Sam Show.

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Adam Paulden 

Founder - President

Adam has been producing commercial entertainment for over 15 years.

Starting out as an actor on BBC Radio in his teens, Adam went on to graduate with an English Studies degree from the University of Nottingham before carrying out work experience placements and internships at Company Pictures on the TV shows Skins and Shameless, Youth Music Theatre UK and Paramount Pictures International, where he stayed on as a script reader.

He subsequently produced many plays, musicals and cabarets in the West End, off West End and at the Edinburgh Fringe before working for acclaimed producer, Kenny Wax. For over seven years at Kenny Wax, Adam general managed many multi-award-winning productions including Top Hat and The Play That Goes Wrong.

Adam established entertainment corporation, DLAP Group, with Dan Looney in 2018, later joined by Jason Haigh-Ellery, and the company has gone on to produce, manage and finance multiple productions across the world including Bonnie & Clyde (West End - Winner ‘Best New Musical’ WhatsOnStage Awards), The Last Five Years (West End), The Last King of Scotland (Sheffield Crucible), The Wedding Singer (UK Tour, Wembley Park Theatre, South Korea - Winner ‘Best Musical’ DIMF Awards), Rock of Ages (2 UK Tours, Europe), Fame (UK Tour, Europe), Company (West End - Winner 4 Olivier Awards), Curtains (UK Tour, West End) and many concerts at venues including Cadogan Hall, Theatre Royal Drury Lane and The London Palladium such as Audra McDonald, Jeremy Jordan and Chita Rivera live in concert.

Adam is also a partner in motion picture company, Neopolitan Pictures, and has previously produced, written and directed various TV pilots and short films. He is a keen drummer, singer and pianist.

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Jason Haigh-Ellery

Non-Executive Chairman

Jason has been involved with the entertainment industry since the age of 5 – when he tap danced on stage with Roy Castle.  By the time he’d reached his teens, he realised that performing was probably best left up to those with more talent and he began writing and directing, which led to him producing his first play at 19 years of age.

Jason has now produced 16 West End shows including, Footloose – the musical, Never Forget, Yes Prime Minister, The Ladykillers, White Christmas, Curtains, Last Five Years, New Boy and most recently Bonnie and Clyde.  He is an originating producer of The Whatsonstage Awards. He has also been a Producer on 28 touring shows, including High Society, The Steamie, The Wedding Singer, Fame, Flashdance – the musical, Rock of Ages, Wasted, The Addams Family and An Officer and a Gentleman.  He has Executive Produced in South Africa and worked with Lythgoe Family Entertainment in Los Angeles since 2010 bringing pantomime to America with such performers as Arianna Grande and Neil Patrick Harris.

Jason founded Big Finish Productions in 1998 and the company has grown to be the largest independent producer of Audio Drama in the world, working regularly with media corporations such as the BBC, ITV, MGM and ABC on Doctor Who, Torchwood, Stargate, Space:1999, The Avengers, The Prisoner and on original series such as The Confessions of Dorian Grey. Producing over 320 hours of drama in 2020, the back catalogue now exceeds 5,000 hours of drama.  Big Finish won the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Drama for Doctor Who in both 2014 and 2017. Big Finish also won for Best Audio Drama at the Audie Awards in 2017 for The Martian Invasion of Earth and in 2021 for Doctor Who: Stranded and won Best Audio Drama in 2014,2016, 2017 and 2021 at the Scribe Awards.

In 2005, Jason was a founding director and helped fund the creation of the actor’s agency Cole Kitchenn, which became part of the ROAR Group and subsequently Intertalent.

In 2011, Jason also founded the animation house Big Finish Creative in Sydney, Australia, working first with the BBC on three animated versions of Doctor Who and then producing the original 26-part drama Prisoner Zero for ABC and Netflix.  BFC are presently producing four new series of animated Doctor Who for BBC Studios.

Jason recently Executive Produced the new teen drama More than This with ACTF, Baby Banksia and Shapeshifters which was filmed in Melbourne in January 2021 as a Paramount+ Original, broadcast to much acclaim in the Spring of 2022.

Previously, Jason has produced two reality shows – Nadia Goes to Hollywood and Nadia: Chasing the Dream for TV3 and been involved with reality shows Strictly Dance Fever (BBC) and Fame – the Musical (RTE).

 On film, Jason has acted as an Executive Producer on the comedy The Time of their Lives distributed by Universal Pictures – which was subsequently a #1 comedy on Amazon.  In 2019, he also served as an Executive Producer on Mrs. Lowry and Son starring Timothy Spall and Oscar Winner Vanessa Redgrave.

 Jason is a founding director of the fashion brand Marfa Stance and has recently purchased part of a winery!

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Elisa Kamsky 

Head of Business Affairs 

Elisa Kamsky graduated from private law school in London with a focus on IP Law and International Banking and finance. Whilst in Law School, Elisa Founded Advx Training for Lawyers and law students, teaching transferrable skills through acting techniques; she has worked with incredible tutors from the Royal Academy of Dramatic art and Meisner Technique specialists, which allowed her to make the training one of a kind. 

In 2018, Elisa founded online legal services for Start-ups and Entrepreneurs ‘Kamsky Consultancy. She advised the CEO and Co-founder of Bukit and Golfscape and worked with YouTube political influencer Mahyer Tousi, award-winning podcasters, software developers, ballet schools and even film settlements.
 
Elisa is fluent in Russian, which allowed her to expand her services to Russian Entrepreneurs in the UK. Elisa is a member of The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, The American Bar Society and the International Bar Association. 

In 2012 Elisa was led in the award-winning play: And they Came for me – Remembering Anne Frank, where she played Eva Schloss, the cousin of Anne Frank, who came to one of the performances and left Elisa a note. "You did well", which Elisa considers one of her proudest achievements.
 
Elisa has always been passionate about inclusion and racial and religious issues. Elisa was born in Kyiv and grew up in London, and with the current war, Elisa is more passionate about peace and child welfare in war-torn zones. 

2006 Elisa Attended Russian International Theatre School, RADA one year programme and studied with Mark Woolgar, who introduced her to Tom Hardy.
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Srianti Alwis

Accounts Manager

Srianti is a fully qualified AAT who has a wealth of knowledge and experience in many years in books of accounts for the theatre industry and other sectors.

Srianti has maintained books of accounts for many respected theatre producers for many years and has gained vast knowledge in theatre Industry

She has experience in working with theatre talent agents during her carrier.

She has worked part time for theatrical production accountants and took a short break and returned in 2019 where she remained ever since.

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Darren Bell

Director of Live Events

With over 12 years working in sales and marketing at a senior level in the Technology and IT industries, Darren one day had enough and decided to follow a passion ... the rest is history. In the last 10 years Darren, is a prolific freelance photographer in the arts in the UK, and has been very privileged to have worked with hundreds of theatrical and arts based companies including notable companies including BAFTA, The Olivier Awards, Society Of London Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, WICKED UK, Prince Of Egypt, Royal Theatre Haymarket, Mark Goucher, Trafalgar, Kenny Wax Productions, Donmar Warehouse, Jamie Hendry Productions, Playful Productions, Jamie Lloyd Productions, Birmingham Stage Company, Donmar Warehouse and proudly shooting the last 6 years of campaigns The MADTRUST.

In 2015 whilst working with the Hippodrome Casino Darren discovered a niche in the form of musical theatre artists that were not being presented in the UK. With that his first UK produced concert was with Broadway vocal power house, Shoshana Bean, who he’s has continued to produce in the UK over the last 7 years. Since 2015 under the name Club 11 London, Darren has produced over 60 concerts featuring some of musical theatres biggest and brightest stars including Chita Rivera, Kelli O’Hara, Sierra Boggess, Laura Benanti, Keala Settle, Tituss Burgess, and Megan Hilty along side many UK stars that include Michael Ball, Cynthia Erivo, Sharon D Clarke and Hannah Waddingham. Darren has formed a strong relationship with Broadway leading man Jeremy Jordan presenting his show in London 3 times growing from a 600 seat first engagement to just shy of 4000 seats for his last UK appearance.

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Sam Quested

General Manager

Sam joined DLAP Group in 2019 as General Manager. He previously worked at Club 11 (now Fourth Wall Live) as their General Manager, previous concerts include; Carrie Hope Fletcher, Megan Hilty, Jeremy Jordan, Shoshana Bean, Chita Rivera, Laura Michelle Kelly, Laura Benanti, Sierra Boggess, Kelli O’Hara, Zorro, Cinderella and Tori Amos’s musical, The Light Princess. Most recently streaming events of 'Live in London' at the Hippodrome and 'Eurobeat - The Pride of Europe'.

As director his credits include; Blues In The Night - 30th Anniversary (London Hippodrome), Into The Woods (Salisbury Playhouse). As assistant director; Old Fools (Southwark Playhouse) and as associate producer; Party of One and Divallusion, both at the Edinburgh Fringe starring singer impressionist Christina Bianco.

Alongside theatre, Sam has also worked extensively in the field of magic for almost 10 years. In 2016 Sam joined the company of the smash hit magic show Impossible, working with some of the greatest magicians in the world. With over 150 performances including a UK tour, London (Noël Coward), Beirut, Dubai, Singapore and Araneta Arena in Manila.

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Charlotte Barlow

Associate General Manager

Charlotte Barlow joined DLAP in April 2019 as a Production Assistant. She was promoted to Assistant General Manager in April 2021 and promoted to Associate General Manager in September 2022.

Charlotte trained in Musical Theatre at the Italia Conti Academy of Performing Arts. Then went on to complete a BA English degree at the University of Southampton graduating with First Class Honours. While at university, Charlotte competed nationally in contemporary, street, ballet, jazz and tap squads. She also contributed to the university's media magazine The Edge, writing reviews for productions at the Mayflower Theatre. For many years she worked for Pixie Lott's Performing Arts Academy in her home city of Chelmsford, as a Musical Theatre and Acting teacher. Additionally, she worked as an entertainer and performer for 'The Only Way is Entertainment" agency across Essex and London.

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Daisy Loving

Production and Development Coordinator

Daisy completed her degree in performance in Musical Theatre at Performance Preparation Academy in 2019, graduating with First Class Honours. Daisy then went on to perform as a lead vocalist at Disneyland Hong Kong. 

On her return, she began working for Future Spotlight Productions as a Production Assistant and quickly found a love for a different side of the industry. Daisy joined DLAP Group as a Production Assistant in 2021, working across a variety of projects and productions across the company for several months, before progressing to become Production and Development Coordinator in 2022. She now works creatively on all DLAP productions, focusing on all the exciting development projects under Creative Rights International. 

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Cynthia Vera

Office Administrator 

Cynthia Vera began working in the creative industry as a contributing writer for ARTtouchesART, a London based film and video production company. She went on to complete a BA in Media, Journalism and Culture degree at the University of Cardiff. Whilst at university, Cynthia contributed to the university magazine, Quench, writing about film and culture. Subsequently, she became the Film & TV Editor of the media magazine during her time at Cardiff.

After graduating, she worked as a Deputy Editor and personal essays writer for a small online publication, Candiid, that focused on the voices of women of colour before going on to become a Journalist and Copy Editor at Global Woman Magazine. Here, she was involved in a variety of projects from researching to conducting interviews with international entrepreneurial women and managing one of the subsidiary magazines of Global Woman. Having recently joined DLAP Group as an Office Administrator, she is excited to be continuing her work in the arts and creative industries. 

DLAP Group Team

Founder - CEO Dan Looney

Founder - President  Adam Paulden

Non-Executive Chairman Jason Haigh-Ellery

Head of Business Affairs Elisa Kamsky

Accounts Manager Srianti Alwis

Director of Live Events for Fourth Wall Live Darren Bell

General Manager Sam Quested

Associate General Manager Charlotte Barlow 

Production and Development Coordinator Daisy Loving

Office Administrator Cynthia Vera