Dmitri M. Johnson

Dmitri M. Johnson
Born	San Diego, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Chapman University
Occupations	Film production Television production
Employer	Story Kitchen
Board member of	BAFTA
Website	story-kitchen.com

Dmitri M. Johnson is an American film producer. He is the co-founder of Story Kitchen, previously dj2 Entertainment, and best known for the Sonic the Hedgehog films as well as the current, and upcoming, Tomb Raider television series (from Netflix as well as Amazon MGM Studios).

After starting his entertainment career at Gotham Group, in the 2000s, Dmitri pivoted to full-time producing in 2012.

Story Kitchen (formerly dj2 Entertainment) is an American independent production company focused on adapting videogames, and other ‘non-traditional’ IPs, into film and television.

Story Kitchen currently has a television first-look deal with Amazon MGM Studios as well as an animated film first-look deal with DreamWorks Animation. ^{[1] [2]}

In 2024, Story Kitchen renewed their first-look television deal with Amazon MGM Studios (until 2028). ^[3]

Biography

Dmitri M. Johnson (born in San Diego, California) Graduated from Chapman University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Production, in 2003.

Filmography

Films

Producer

• Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), co-producer
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022), co-producer
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024), co-producer

Television

Executive producer

• Rival Peak (2020)
• Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft (2024)

Panels

• XDS External Development Summit: "BAFTA Presents “Franchise Farming” with Story Kitchen — When, How, and with Whom to Grow a Game IP into Film/TV, Animation, and Beyond" (2025) ^[4]
• Global Tech Weekend Tbilisi: "Shaping the New Era" (2025) ^[5]
• Games for Change: "Games, Hollywood, and Impact" (2025) ^{[6] [7]}
• Screen Play / London Games (2025) ^[8]
• SXSW: "Transmedia is Back – But What Comes Next?" (2024) ^[9]

Further reading

• The Games Business' video interview at Screen Play London Games: "We've never had a better moment to adapt your game to film or TV" (2025) ^[10]
• NPR interview with Dmitri M. Johnson titled, "How do you take a video game and turn it into a compelling narrative" (2024) ^[11]

References

1. Kroll, Justin (2024-05-06). "Story Kitchen And DreamWorks Animation Form Strategic Partnership". Deadline. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
2. Magazine, Animation (2024-05-06). "Story Kitchen Inks First-Look Deal with DreamWorks Animation". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
3. Otterson, Joe (2025-05-16). "'Tomb Raider' Producer Story Kitchen Renews First-Look TV Deal at Amazon MGM Studios (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
4. "TABLE-TOPIC: BAFTA Presents "Franchise Farming" with Story Kitchen — when, how, and with whom to grow a game IP into film/TV, animation, and beyond". External Development Summit (XDS). Retrieved 2025-09-01.
5. "TKT.GE". tkt.ge. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
6. "2025 Games for Change Festival Speakers". festival.gamesforchange.org. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
7. "Schedule". festival.gamesforchange.org. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
8. "Screen Play". Games London. 2025-06-23. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
9. "Dmitri Johnson". SXSW 2025 Schedule. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
10. Dring, Christopher (2025-04-15). ""We've never had a better moment to adapt your game to film or TV"". The Game Business.
11. N; P; R (2024-04-11). "How do you take a video game and turn it into a compelling narrative?". NPR. Retrieved 2025-09-01.