P. David Ebersole is an American independent filmmaker, television director, and novelist. He began his film career as a child actor, playing the lead in the musical '' Junior High School'' (1978), which also starred Paula Abdul.

Career

Stepping behind the

camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...

, as an undergraduate he won Best

Film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and Best Director at NYU for his first effort, "Lover Man" (1986), and earned his MFA winning AFI's Franklin J. Schaffner award for best film/best director for his student thesis project, "Death in Venice, CA" (1994). He directed the boxing film "Straight Right" (2000) that premiered on Sundance Channel, and was a director on two telenovelas for Fox Television airing on My Network TV,

Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of affa ...

(2006) and Wicked Wicked Games (2007) starring Tatum O'Neal. He was co-producer of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

original film,'' Stranger Inside'' (2001) and the independent

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

''The New Women'' (2001) starring Mary Woronov. He

directed Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...

and edited his first

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

'' Hit So Hard'' about

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

Patty Schemel of the seminal grunge band Hole (band), which had its world

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

at SXSW 2011 and was released theatrically in 2012. Along with his

husband A husband is a man involved in a marital relationship, commonly referred to as a spouse. The specific rights, responsibilities, and societal status attributed to a husband can vary significantly across different cultures and historical perio ...

and

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

partner Todd Hughes, he was Executive Producer of '' Room 237'', a subjective

that explores the numerous theories about the hidden meanings within

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

's film " The Shining." Ebersole is writer/director and Executive Producer of '' Dear Mom, Love Cher'', a documentary about Georgia Holt, the mother of international superstar

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

. Independently produced by The Ebersole Hughes Company and APIS Productions, it premiered on Lifetime May 6, 2013. His film '' Mansfield 66/67'', premiered at the 2017 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) where Paris-based International sales outfit Stray Dogs picked up worldwide rights. The film is about the last two years of movie goddess Jayne Mansfield’s life, and the rumors swirling around her untimely death being caused by a curse after her alleged romantic dalliance with Anton LaVey, head of the Church of Satan. Mansfield 66/67 is "a true story based on rumor and hearsay," celebrating Jayne's life on the 50th anniversary of her death. Directed by Ebersole with his husband Todd Hughes, and produced by Ebersole, Hughes and Larra Anderson, it was released theatrically in North America for Halloween 2017 by Gunpowder & Sky. The award-winning feature documentary '' House of Cardin,'' about the iconic designer Pierre Cardin, directed by Ebersole and Hughes, premiered to a standing ovation at the 2019

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

in the prestigious Giornate degli Autori section, and it is in distribution worldwide, with Utopia taking North American rights. In 2021, '' My Name Is Lopez,'' a concert/documentary feature film about the life and legend of Trini Lopez, one of the first Latino rock and rollers in the U.S., won Best Documentary Feature Film when it premiered at AmDocs in Palm Springs CA and it was picked up for distribution by Cinedigm. In May 2022, Pelekinesis Press published Ebersole's first novel, ''99 Miles From L.A'', "a timely, intricately woven bisexual love triangle between a trio of desert-based criminals."

Personal life

He currently keeps residences in both Mérida, Mexico and

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

, with his husband Todd Hughes.

Filmography

Director

* '' My Name Is Lopez'' (2021) **Documentary Feature * '' House of Cardin'' (2019) **Documentary Feature * '' Mansfield 66/67'' (2017) **Documentary Feature * '' Dear Mom, Love Cher'' (2013) **TV Movie Documentary * '' Hit So Hard'' (2011) **Documentary Feature * "Swimming" (2010) **Short * '' Wicked Wicked Games'' (2007) **TV Series/Telenovela, 65 episodes * ''

'' (2006) **TV Series/Telenovela, 65 episodes * ''Hot Chicks'' (2006) **Feature Compilation of shorts, segment "Doom Town" * ''Straight Right'' (2000) **Narrative Feature * "Death In Venice, CA" (1994) **Short

Producer

* '' My Name Is Lopez'' (2021) **Documentary Feature * '' House of Cardin'' (2019) **Documentary Feature * '' Mansfield 66/67'' (2017) **Documentary Feature * ''Alaska Is A Drag'' (2016) **Narrative Feature, Executive Producer * ''A Reunion'' (2014) **Narrative Feature, Executive Producer * '' Dear Mom, Love Cher'' (2013) **TV Movie Documentary, Executive Producer * '' Room 237'' (2012) **Documentary Feature, Executive Producer * ''The New Women'' (2001) **Narrative Feature, Co-producer * '' Stranger Inside'' (2001) **TV Movie, co-producer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ebersole, P David 1964 births Living people Film directors from Los Angeles American television directors American LGBTQ film directors LGBTQ television directors American LGBTQ writers