Donald James MacHale (born March 11, 1956) is an American writer, director, and executive producer. He has been affiliated with shows such as ''

Are You Afraid of the Dark? ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' is a children's horror anthology television series created by D. J. MacHale and Ned Kandel. The original series aired on Nickelodeon in the United States from August 15, 1992 to February 3, 1996, and also o ...

'', ''

Flight 29 Down ''Flight 29 Down'' is an American adventure comedy-drama television series about a group of teenagers who are stranded on an island. It was produced by Discovery Kids. The show was created by Stan Rogow (''Lizzie McGuire'', '' Darcy's Wild Life ...

'' and ''Seasonal Differences''. MacHale is also the author of the popular young adult book series, ''

Pendragon Pendragon, or (, ''pen dragon''; composed of Welsh , 'head, chief, top' and / ''dragon'', 'dragon; warrior'; borrowed from the Greco-Latin word , plural , 'dragon , ; ) literally means 'chief dragon' or 'head dragon', but in a figurative sense ...

'' and '' Morpheus Road''.

Early life

MacHale was born on March 11, 1956, in

Port Chester, New York Port Chester is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the largest part of the town of Rye (town), New York, Rye in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County by populati ...

and grew up in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

where he had several jobs including collecting eggs at a poultry farm, engraving sports trophies, and washing dishes in a steakhouse. In school he played football and ran track. It was while attending Western Junior High School that he and friends began making video productions that ranged from short documentaries to a feature-length Marx Brothers comedy. Upon graduation from

Greenwich High School Greenwich High School is a four-year public high school in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. The school is part of the Greenwich Public Schools system and serves roughly 2,700 students. It offers over 295 courses and a wide variety of co-cu ...

, MacHale attended

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

for three semesters, then transferred to

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

where he graduated with a BFA in

film production Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

Awards

MacHale won the CableACE Award for his series ''

Chris Cross Christopher Thomas Allen (14 July 1952 – 25 March 2024), known professionally as Chris Cross, was an English musician, best known as the bass guitarist in the new wave band Ultravox. After starting his music career with Stoned Rose, a ban ...

'' and the

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

for ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' He received a

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...

award as well as a second WGA nomination for his work on the TV series ''

''. He received a

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...

award nomination for his work on the TV series ''Flight 29 Down''.

Works

* ''

ABC Afterschool Special ''ABC Afterschool Special'' is an American anthology television series that aired on ABC from October 4, 1972, to January 23, 1997, usually in the late afternoon on weekdays. Most episodes were dramatically presented situations, often controve ...

'' (Multiple episodes of the TV Series) * ''

'' (TV Series) * '' Tower of Terror'' (Movie) * ''

'' (TV Series) * ''Seasonal Differences'' (Episode of the Afterschool Special TV Series) * ''

Ghostwriter A ghostwriter is a person hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...

'' (Pilot episodes of the TV series) * ''

Encyclopedia Brown ''Encyclopedia Brown'' is a series of books featuring the adventures of boy detective Leroy Brown, nicknamed "Encyclopedia" for his intelligence and range of knowledge. The 29 books in the children's literature series were written (one co-writ ...

'' (TV Series) * ''

: Journal of an Adventure Through Time and Space'' (Book Series) * ''

East of the Sun and West of the Moon "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" () is a Norwegian fairy-tale. It was included by Andrew Lang in '' The Blue Fairy Book'' (1889). "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" was collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. It i ...

'' (Penned Adaptation) * ''

'' (TV Series) * ''The Guide to the Territories of Halla'', (2005): provides information about

The Pendragon Adventure ''Pendragon: Journal of an Adventure Through Time and Space'', abbreviated ''The Pendragon Adventure'' or simply ''Pendragon'', is a series of ten young adult fiction, young-adult science fantasy, science fiction and fantasy novels by American ...

book series up to book five, Black Water including the era, land mass, events, currency, and recreation. * '' Morpheus Road'' (Book Series) * ''The Monster Princess'' (Picture Book) * ''The SYLO Chronicles (book series) SYLO, STORM, and STRIKE'' * ''The Library'' (book series) Curse of the Boggin; Black Moon Rising; The Oracle of Doom * '' Voyagers'' (1st book of the series) * ''The Equinox Curiosity Shop'' (Audible Original audio book) * ''Trinity'' (Novel featured in the

TV series) * Beyond Midnight - Seven Peculiar Tales of Mystery and Suspense (short story collection) * The Paper Trail (novel)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Machale, D. J. 1956 births American male writers American television directors American television producers Living people Writers from Greenwich, Connecticut Writers Guild of America Award winners Greenwich High School alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni