David Irving (director)

For other people named David Irving, see David Irving (disambiguation).

David Kenneth Irving (born September 25, 1949) is an American film director, screenwriter, author, and professor. His accolades include the 1981 Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Children's Script.

David Irving
Born	David Kenneth Irving (1949-09-25) September 25, 1949 Santa Clara County, California, U.S.
Occupation	Film director screenwriter author professor
Education	Riverdale School for Boys Denison University (BFA) California Institute of the Arts (MFA)
Spouse	Susan Burkhalter ​ (m. 1974)​
Children	Austin Irving
Parents	Jules Irving Priscilla Pointer
Relatives	Amy Irving (sister)

Early life

Irving was born in Santa Clara County, California. He is the son of Jules Irving and Priscilla Pointer. His father is of Russian-Jewish descent. He has two siblings, actress Amy Irving and Katie Irving. He spent his childhood in San Francisco, where he was active in local theater. The family then relocated to New York City. Irving attended high school at Riverdale School for Boys. He earned a BFA from Denison University and an MFA from California Institute of the Arts.

Career

Irving began his career as a screenwriter, director and producer of movies. He also directed numerous theatrical plays. He then moved on to writing and directing documentary shorts. He co-wrote the textbook Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video along with Peter W. Rea. The book is the only text on short film creation to focus on the importance of symbiosis between producer and director. It was originally released in 1995, and is in its 5th edition as of 2019. In 2008, it was announced that he would serve as head of NYU's Tisch Asia graduate film department.

In 2010, Irving wrote another textbook entitled Fundamentals of Film Directing. In 2011, he published another textbook entitled Elements of College Teaching. He served as the chair of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts Film and Television program for both the undergraduate and graduate schools for over seven years. He then wrote a novel, Sleep 101: The Odd Rise of Doctor Louise Pond, PhD, which explores the inner workings of academia. This was followed up with Sleep 201: The Further Adventures of Dr. Louise Pond and Sleep 301: Dr. Louise Pond and the Spunky Monkey.

As of 2019, Irving works as an associate professor at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. In 2007, he received the NYU David Payne Carter Award for Teaching Excellence.

Personal life

In 1974, Irving married actress Susan Burkhalter. They have one daughter, artist Austin Irving.

Filmography

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1976	The Great Texas Dynamite Chase	No	No	Yes
1980	The Magical World of Disney (TV Series)	No	Yes - 1 episode	No	Episode: The Secret of the Lost Valley: Pt 1
1983	Good-bye, Cruel World	Yes	No	No
1987	Rumpelstiltsken	Yes	Yes	No
1987	The Emperor's New Clothes	Yes	Yes	No
1988	Sleeping Beauty	Yes	No	No
1989	C.H.U.D. II: Bud The Chud	Yes	No	No
1990	Night of the Cyclone	Yes	No	No
1995	Romare Bearden	Yes	Yes	No
1998	African Art	Yes	Yes	No
1999	Elizabeth Catlett: Sculpting the Truth	Yes	Yes	No	documentary short
2000	Richard Mayhew: Spiritual Landscapes	Yes	Yes	No	documentary short
2001	Jacob Lawrence	Yes	Yes	No
2002	School's Out: Self-taught Artists	Yes	Yes	No	documentary short
2004	Chuck Close: Close Up	Yes	Yes	No	documentary short
2006	I Can Fly: Kids and Creativity	Yes	Yes	No	documentary short
2008	Red Grooms: Sculptopictoramatist	Yes	Yes	No	documentary short
2009	Jimmy and Max Ernst	Yes	Yes	No

External links

• David Irving at IMDb
• NYU faculty page