Dawna Lee Heising has acted in over 220 feature films and has won awards in over 570 films as an actor/producer/publicity director. She is the VP of Aki Aleong’s Mustard Seed Media Group and has a B.S. Degree in Business Management and MBA from Pepperdine University. Her uncle is legendary DP Tak Fujimoto (“Silence of the Lambs,” “Sixth Sense”), and her cousins David Wong and George Daugherty received a Primetime Emmy Award for their televised Broadway production of “Peter and the Wolf on Broadway”.
Dawna has won over 170 Best Actress awards for feature films and television. She received the Elite Martial Arts Spirit Award at the 2023 Golden Gate Hall of Honors Martial Arts Awards and was named “Actress & Action Star of the Year” at the 2021 USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame Awards. She is honored and excited to be inducted into the WorldFilmGeek.com Hall of Fame for 2023, alongside Diane Franklin and Mark Patton.
Dawna was honored to work with the great Eddie Griffin in Param Gill’s “Bad President”, which premiered at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, and with legendary star Tom Arnold in Adam Werth’s “Alien Storm” from Mahal Empire Productions. She plays Lisa in “PTSD: A Soldier’s Revenge,” which stars Daniel Baldwin, Tom Sizemore, and Robert LaSardo, and Ms. Fairchild in Diana Carter’s “Recipes for Love”, starring Daniel Baldwin and Nicholas Turturro. Dawna played the lead role of Nikki Carter in Walter Hochbrueckner’s “The Paradise Motel,” with Mel Novak, and will be reprising her role in the sequel “Next Stop: Hell’s End” with Yan Birch.
Dawna is trained in Tang Soo Do martial arts and pole dancing. She is a former Miss Los Angeles Chinatown, Ms. US World, Ms. World, Ms. Universe, Miss San Francisco Universe, Miss Orange County Universe, Miss Orange County America, Miss California Hemisphere and Mrs. California United States, among many other titles. She was honored to be the Queen of the 2019 Hollywood Silver Screen Film Festival, the 2018 WIND International Film Festival Queen and the 2021 Kaiju International Film Festival Queen. Dawna studies acting with Matthew Arkin and Karole Foreman, and her martial arts KwanJangNim is Grand Master Rick St. Clair. She is a long-time member of SAG-AFTRA.
Awards
- 55 Best Actress Awards for Craig Railsback’s “Down and Out in Vampire Hills”;
- 50 Best Actress Awards for Craig Railsback’s “Dark Classics: Monologue from Lady Macbeth”;
- 26 Best Actress Awards for Sandy Slaven’s “The Rose Wagon”;
- 40 Best Actress Awards for 2022 Demo Reel and 2023 Comedy Demo Reel;
- 20 Best Actress Awards for Rod Smith’s “The Legacy”;
- 12 Best Actress Awards for Dustin Ferguson’s “Cobra Strike Force”;
- 6 Best Actress Awards for Walter Hochbrueckner’s “The Paradise Motel”;
- 40 Best Music Video Awards for Nathan Castiel’s “Black City Nights”;
- “Elite Martial Arts Spirit Award” at the 2023 Golden Gate Martial Arts Hall of Honors;
- “Actress/Model/Action Star of the Year” at the 2022 Official USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame Awards;
- Best Actress for role of Barbie in Dustin Ferguson’s “Nemesis 5” at the 2018 LANFA Film Festival;
- Best Actress for Jared Masters’ “Teacher’s Day” at the 2014 Shockfest Film Festival;
- Best Supporting Actress for Gregory Blair’s “Garden Party Massacre” at the Lucky Strike Film Festival 2019;
- 8 Best Ensemble Awards for Gregory Blair’s “Garden Party Massacre”;
- Best Television Host for “Eye on Entertainment” at the 2017 WIND International Film Festival;
- Outstanding Television Host for “Eye on Entertainment” at the 2013 EOTM Awards;
- “Actress of the Year” at the 2018 Official USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame Awards
Education/Training
- Professional Acting at South Coast Repertory Theatre with Matthew Arkin
- Shakespearean Acting with Karole Foreman
- Member of Sal Romeo’s Friends and Artists Theatre Company
- Acting Workshops with Guy Stockwell, Tim Russ, Richard Hatch, and at Tepper-Gallegos
- A.A. in Theatre Arts from Fullerton College
- B.S. in Business Management and MBA from Pepperdine University
- Trained in Tang Soo Do martial arts
- Training in Martial Arts weaponry with her Sabumnim Master Rick St. Clair
- Trained in Ballet and Pole Dancing
Titles
- Queen of the 2021 Kaiju International Film Festival
- Queen of the 2019 Hollywood Silver Screen Festival
- Queen of the 2018 WIND International Film Festival
- Mrs. Golden Global 2017
- Ms. Galactic 2016
- Ms. World 2008
- Ms. Universe 2009
- Mrs. California United States 2000
- Mrs. American Achievement 2001
- Former Miss Los Angeles Chinatown 1988
- Former Miss Orange County Universe 1989
- Former Miss San Francisco Universe 1987
- Miss California Hemisphere 1990
