#161 | Paul Kitson | Dirty Dancing to Screenwriting

Paul Kitson returns to talk about playing Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing in the West End, producing, and his screenplays. Paul Kitson is a London-trained actor turned writer, creator, and producer. He originated the lead role of Johnny Castle in the record-breaking West End premiere of Dirty Dancing. He began producing at London's Savoy Club, curating a late-night supper show that revived the Goodfellas Copacabana energy, momentum that led to directing BBC's Strictly Come Dancing tour and VIP events, including Simon Cowell's 50th birthday. As co-founder of Creative Sunshine Productions (2010–2014), Paul produced and directed music videos, commercials, and national live tours, and served as creative director for The Prince's Trust. As a screenwriter, Paul's feature Marathon was acquired by Oscar-nominated studio Distant Horizon (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom) and is in development toward a 2028 theatrical release. His indie drama The Price of Applause, a darkly comic "love letter to Broadway", was a 2025 finalist at the Cambridge Script Festival. His newest dystopian TV series was optioned by a London production company in June 2025. To learn more about Paul: https://paullawrencekitson.com Chapters 0:00 Welcome back Paul Kitson 2:36 Why Ryan worked out of Asia 5:13 Sensing the mood across cultures 7:44 Is coding still worth learning? 10:20 The Palisades fire 12:53 Paul Greengrass and real-feeling cinema 17:53 Rebuilding after the fires 22:55 Protests across Europe and America 27:59 How far ahead productions plan 33:03 From Russell Crowe to student films 35:36 A conversation with his grandfather 38:09 Elon Musk and DOGE 43:12 Money in politics 45:50 Everyone playing by the same rules 48:21 A visiting worker with no vote 50:56 Travels in Latin America 53:31 What lies under Antarctica? 56:10 UFOs go mainstream 58:47 We're not alone 1:01:24 Theories about the moon 1:06:27 Technology wiping out careers 1:09:01 Trading services on social platforms 1:14:03 Ryan's move to Dubai 1:16:39 A ranch in Montana 1:19:14 Getting back to the dirt 1:21:51 Starlink and drone medicine 1:24:24 When the engineers sound the alarm 1:26:56 Pensions and older generations 1:29:29 Stablecoins and Bitcoin 1:32:06 Travel builds strength 1:34:39 Better than a degree 1:39:41 Independent reporters doing better 1:42:18 Punishing corruption 1:44:52 Tradition that isn't working 1:47:29 Paul's last two years 1:50:06 A series about hidden history 1:55:09 The unexplored oceans 1:57:40 Animals sense disaster first 2:00:17 Prolonged hardship ahead? 2:02:55 Countries that rise together 2:07:58 Former dancers who act 2:10:32 Taking a big swing 2:13:04 Written with you in mind 2:15:39 Directors with open doors 2:20:42 The magic is in the grind 2:23:16 Writing a movie for yourself 2:25:52 Getting people to read your script 2:28:26 Four jobs to get one project made 2:30:58 Franchises on repeat 2:33:30 A-listers chasing Oscars 2:36:07 Losing money on huge budgets 2:38:39 $10 million films and first-time directors 2:41:16 Way past dinner time The Ryan Pyle Podcast is ad-free by choice. If you enjoy these conversations, you can buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ryanpyle Ryan's TV series are streaming around the world. Follow the Podcast X: https://x.com/RyanPylePodcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpylepodcast Follow Ryan Pyle YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanjpyle Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanpyle X: https://x.com/RyanPyle Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpyle https://www.ryanpyle.com