David Kenneth Irving (born September 25, 1949) 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 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

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 form the ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He is the son of Jules Irving and

Priscilla Pointer Priscilla Marie Pointer (May 18, 1924 – April 28, 2025) was an American actress of theater, film and television. Pointer began her career in the theater in the late 1940s, including productions on Broadway, and later moved to Hollywood to pur ...

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

Amy Irving Amy Irving (born September 10, 1953) is an American actress and singer, who has 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, Cali ...

and Katie Irving. He spent his childhood in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, 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 university, private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio, United States. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. It was first called ...

and an MFA from

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

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 Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction, between two organisms of different species. The two organisms, termed symbionts, can fo ...

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 The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

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

*
NYU faculty page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, David Living people Film directors from California American people of Russian-Jewish descent American male screenwriters Jewish American screenwriters Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American Jews People from Santa Clara County, California Denison University alumni California Institute of the Arts alumni American theatre directors American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists American male novelists Tisch School of the Arts faculty Film producers from California