Tea, Earl Grey, Hot Productions is a full service production company, specializing in film, television, commercials, music videos and new media in domestic and international markets. It is helmed by award winning director, writer, producer David Dilley.
About David
David Dilley was born in Dallas, Texas. At nine, his family relocated to Fountain Hills, Arizona, where Dilley would later attend high school. After graduating from Arizona State University, David moved to Los Angeles. Like most transplants eager to learn the film business, David started as a production assistant, working on Fragments, Street Kings, and The Lucky Ones. Producing shorts and providing script coverage along the way, David later landed as a producer’s assistant on Gentlemen Broncos. On Gentlemen Broncos, David would complete a number of tasks, including researching and acquiring old Sci-Fi book and magazine artwork. This artwork was used as the opening credit sequence for the film.
Upon completion of Gentlemen Broncos, David wrote, directed and produced the short film, The Diner. The Diner was acquired for distribution by Ouat Media.
David then landed as an executive producer’s assistant on Warrior. Like Gentlemen Broncos, David was given tasks to complete, including researching and acquiring historical archive footage. This footage was matched with the film’s protagonist, Tom Hardy.
Having successfully completed his role on Warrior, David set out to direct his first feature film, Suspicion. Suspicion stars Suzanne May, Brad Blaisdell, Aidan Bristow and Carlos Larkin. The film follows Darrell Jacobs (Blaisdell), a retired member of the mafia who is dying of lung cancer. Jacobs, having formed an unlikely friendship with a college student, Alicia Foret (May), unknowingly puts her life in jeopardy when they begin meeting in public.
Suspicion won a number of festival best picture awards, including the prestigious Big Bear Lake International Film Festival, and was acquired for distribution by Gravitas Ventures. Gravitas Ventures released Suspicion across SVOD content, including iTunes, GooglePlay, YouTube Movies, Vudu, Amazon and Roku.
Following Suspicion’s success, David adapted The Heretic’s Daughter (a New York Times best selling novel) for producer John J. Kelly. The Heretic’s Daughter chronicles the lives of Sarah and Martha Carrier as they’re accused of witchcraft in Salem during the Salem witch trials. After completing The Heretic’s Daughter, David co-produced Interwoven, a feature film starring Academy Award winner Mo’Nique. The feature explores love, loss and homelessness in Los Angeles. Interwoven went onto win the 2016 Garden State Film Festival Best Picture Award.
David then supervised production on Small Town Crime, a thriller starring Academy Award Nominee John Hawkes, Academy Award Winner Octavia Spencer, Anthony Anderson, Clifton Collins Jr. and Robert Forster. Small Town Crime premiered at the 2017 South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and was released theatrically in January, 2018.
Following Small Town Crime, David was the Line Producer and UPM on Nona, a drama starring Kate Bosworth. Nona centers on immigration and consequent human trafficking in the Americas. Nona was selected as the closing night film at the 2018 Manchester Film Festival. It was later acquired for distribution by North of Two, and was released across distribution platforms in 2019.
After completing Nona, David was approached to direct and write Smash 4. Smash 4 (a Nintendo new media pilot) centers on eSports and it’s meteoric rise from basement tournaments to global arena events, grossing more than $493 million in revenue. Smash 4 stars Milynn Sarley and TSM ZeRo. The pilot premiered live on the front page of Twitch.
As Smash 4 wrapped, David was approached to supervise the Ice Age episode on Love, Death & Robots, a live action/animation project for Netflix. Love, Death & Robots was directed by Tim Miller and was released on Netflix in 2019. LDR went onto winning 5 Primetime Emmys.
Immediately following Love, Death & Robots, David supervised the Sonic the Hedgehog test shoot, which stars Reid Scott. Delighted with project’s potential, Paramount greenlit Sonic the Hedgehog as a full length feature film. Sonic the Hedgehog was directed by Jeff Fowler and was Executive Produced by Tim Miller.
Upon wrap on the Sonic the Hedgehog test shoot, David was approached to be the Assistant Production Supervisor on Second Unit for Terminator: Dark Fate, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna and Diego Boneta. Principle photography was filmed in Budapest, Madrid and Murcia. Following principle photography, David was asked to be a Production Supervisor on additional photography. Additional photography was filmed in Los Angeles. Terminator: Dark Fate was directed by Tim Miller, and was produced by James Cameron and David Ellison. The film was released globally in November, 2019, with a 70% aggregate critic rating and a 82% aggregate audience rating.
In early 2020, Covid-19 ceased all filmmaking operations across the globe. David was approached by Dr. Benjamin Reeser for the Intubation Box initiative. The Intubation Box is an acrylic shield placed over the shoulders and head of a Covid-19 patient. It works by blocking aerosol Covid-19 particles which are released when a Covid-19 patient is intubated. Over 520 Intubation Boxes were produced, manufactured and shipped to hospitals across the United States. In terms of scale, the Intubation Box is in approximately 5.5% of all US hospitals. The initiative also raised over $62,000 USD through GoFundMe and sources outside of GoFundMe. The New England Journal of Medicine and the Southwest Journal of Pulmonary & Critical care published articles detailing the efficacy of the Intubation Box. In New York City, the Intubation Box Team was able to coordinate the distribution of 100 additional Intubation Boxes from a local manufacturer to hospitals in the region. The US Army requested an Intubation Box for the Javitz Center. There, the US Army re-purposed the Intubation Box as a negative air pressure machine.
Following the Intubation Box initiative, David was approached to be a Production Supervisor for seasons 3 and 4 on Jack Ryan for Amazon. Jack Ryan stars John Krasinski, Wendell Pierce, Michael Peña and Michael Kelly. Principle Photography was filmed in ten countries during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Upon wrap on Jack Ryan, David was approached to Co-Produce the independent feature Billy Knight. Billy Knight stars Al Pacino, Charlie Heaton and Diana Silvers. Billy Knight was filmed in Los Angeles, California.
David is presently writing, directing and producing a documentary on a new fertility technology which triggers menopause in rats (thus better controlling those populations v. traditional poisons) and the historic ecological fallout that rats have caused in the Galápagos Islands. The documentary is being filmed in the Galápagos Islands.