Meet Dennis L. Prince
Dennis L. Prince is an author, analyst, and historian who has enjoyed more than three decades devoted to researching, writing, and speaking about movies, television, and popular culture. His work has been focused on some of the most beloved films, series, and commercial endeavors of the past sixty years. He has been invited to write and speak about these topics in print, on camera, and through streaming content.
Here’s a look at a few of his areas of expertise.
Hey Boomer!
Born in 1962, Prince was raised during the popular culture and mass market heyday of family entertainment, fantasy explorations, and the space race. He raised himself on a steady intake of after-school cartoons, syndicated re-runs of 1960s stalwarts (notably Lost in Space), plus science-fiction and monster movies, new and old. All the while, he enjoyed indulging in fun food fare of the day including TV dinners, novelty candies, and lunchbox sweets (when Mom allowed). As a child of this mid-century era, he gained first-hand experience in the evolution of the culture, the science, and the sentiments of the pre-Y2K period.
Rated X? For an eight-year-old?!
Prince’s fascination of monsters at a young age (in a concerted effort to overcome his intense fear of them) led him to monster models. The plastic kits produced by the Aurora Plastics Company during the 1960s were off limits to him though; Mom wouldn’t allow her youngster to get near model glue. The arrival of Aurora’s snap-together Monster Scenes kits seemed a reasonable compromise…until Mom saw they were oddly billed as “Rated X…for Excitement.” The monster, mad doctor, and lab equipment was fine but Mom raised an eyebrow at the scantily clad female figure kits and the concerning entrapment and torture devices. Little Dennis assured Mom that all was fine (and it was). His fascination with these kits in the decades to come ultimately led him to co-author the definitive reference book, Monster Scenes: The Most Controversial Toys of a Generation. It was his good fortune to be able to develop and deliver this book in collaboration with the kit series’ original developer from Aurora, Andrew P. Yanchus.
Before it was a thing.
Prince spent the 1980s through the early 2000s in the high-tech industry, from manufacturing to technical documentation, and beyond. During this time, he discovered an outlet for his continued desire to reconnect with the artifacts of his youth…that is, collectibles kits, toys, and so on. He discovered “AuctionWeb at eBay” in 1995, mastered its use as a buyer and seller, and ultimately wrote the first book about the then-rebranded eBay site in Online Auctions at eBay: Bid with Confidence, Sell with Success! Published by Prima-Tech books in 1996, it was a top-selling title and spawned several reprints and other associated titles that explored the emerging ecommerce landscape of the World Wide Web. He became sought out for his insight and experience as a “digital pioneer” and was soon courted by McGraw-Hill of New York for an extended series of best-selling titles.
Sh-sh-sh-SHAAARK!
Prince’s favorite film, then and still, is 1975’s JAWS. Although perpetually a constant consumer of monster movies and other such fantastic films, JAWS was the film that, as a twelve year old, he was frightened to see (…May be too intense for younger children). After mustering the courage to sit through a theatrical screen during the Summer of ’75, he was hooked! Fast forward to 2014 and Prince found himself acquainted with the movie’s production designer, Joe Alves. The two shared a three-hour plane ride together during which Mr. Alves shared all the details of the production…plus so much more about his legendary career. Before the ride was through, Prince mustered a bit more courage to ask, “Joe—have you ever thought about doing a book?” And so began the book project, Joe Alves: Designing JAWS (published by Titan Books in 2019). It emerged and remains as the faithful account of the development of the film and the fantastic 25-foot Great White Shark.
It’s getting a bit creepy.
While developing the Designing JAWS book, Prince became acquainted with special effects master and JAWS superfan, Greg Nicotero (also frequent director of AMC’s The Walking Dead). Nicotero invited Prince to witness his restoration of the only remaining Great White Shark relic from the original film; it now resides within the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Having grown up in the same time as Prince, Nicotero also expressed his affection for Aurora’s Monster Scenes kits and noted that he thoroughly enjoyed the Monster Scenes book (“That’s one of the best f—ing books!”). In 2021, Nicotero asked Prince to write the definitive behind-the-scenes book about his newest endeavor, Shudder’s Creepshow. Prince was given unfettered access to the crew, the cast, and the production executives to assemble one of the most in-depth excursions into the first three seasons of the celebrated series. Shudder’s Creepshow: From Script to Scream was published by Titan Books in 2022.
Let’s all go to the lobby.
Prince’s unwavering fascination for film then led him to a chance encounter with legendary movie poster artist, Robert Tanenbaum. By an absolute fluke, Prince discovered that the earliest piece of JAWS movie art had been created by Mr. Tanenbaum. The art had long been deemed as having been painted by an unknown artist, that is until Prince discovered a tiny signature painted into the roiling surf of the illustration. This led to an outreach to Tanenbaum, a fast friendship, and Prince’s offer to write and design a book to celebrate the man’s decades of film art. Tanenbaum would explain that the most frequent comment he’d hear from fans of his work was, “They would say to me, ‘I didn’t know you did that one.’” Prince published The Movie Poster Art of Robert Tanenbaum in 2023 to rave response.
A lifetime of achievement.
In 2025, Prince completed his largest writing project to date: the full biography of Production Designer and Director, Joe Alves. Through their long and continued friendship, Prince and Alves gathered the details from forty years in film design, culminating in the 529-page tome, Joe Alves – Adventures in Film Design. The book dives deep into Alves’ amazing career, from his earliest days as an animator at Walt Disney Studios, to working with Alfred Hitchock, then to helping mentor a young Steven Spielberg, on to John Carpenter, and so many in between. It was a ten-year project to bring this biography together and Prince considers it one of his most satisfying endeavors to date.
Have you seen him?
Through the decades, Prince has been a frequent guest on television, radio, podcasts, and in-person appearances and book signings. His body of work is varied and brings attention and appeal from a wide swath of audiences. He loves speaking with fellow fans and enthusiasts of all he has written and spoken about and makes himself available to appear at events to greet people directly.
Currently, he has more book projects underway and is also active and accomplished as a plastic model kit developer in his own right through his company, Dencomm Products.
Keep an eye on him because you never know what he’ll deliver next.
