David Kenneth Irving is an American film director, screenwriter, author, and professor. His accolades include the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Children's Script.

Early life

Irving was born in

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County together f ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. He is the son of

Jules Irving Jules Irving (né Julius Israel; April 13, 1925 – July 28, 1979) was an American actor, director, educator, and producer, who in the 1950s co-founded the San Francisco Actor's Workshop. When the Actor's Workshop closed in 1966, Irving moved ...

and

Priscilla Pointer Priscilla Marie Pointer (born May 18, 1924) is an American retired actress. She began her career in the theater in the late 1940's, including productions on Broadway. Later, Pointer moved to Hollywood and making appearances on television in the ...

. His father is of Russian-Jewish descent. He has two siblings, actress

Amy Irving Amy Davis Irving (born September 10, 1953) is an American actress and singer, who worked in film, stage, and television. Her accolades include an Obie Award, and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award. Born in Palo Alto, C ...

and Katie Irving. He spent his childhood in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, 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 Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary a ...

and an MFA from

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of bo ...

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 New York University's Tisch School of 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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, David Living people American film directors American people of Russian-Jewish descent American screenwriters Jewish American screenwriters Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American Jews People from Santa Clara County, California