NFB Profiles
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Verrall David
David has made an indelible imprint on animation filmmaking in Canada. He has produced or executive produced more than 240 NFB films over a remarkable career at the Film Board that began back in 1977, following a number of years in the private sector.
As producer, David was honoured with an Academy Award for Alison Snowden and David Fine's Bob's Birthday (1993). As head of the Animation Studio, he also executive produced two Oscar winners: Chris Landreth's Ryan (2004) and Torill Kove's The Danish Poet (2006).
David produced back-to-back Genie Award winners in Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby's When the Day Breaks (1999) and Eugene Fedorenko and Rose Newlove's Village of Idiots (2000). As executive producer, David was also responsible for a remarkable streak between 2001 and 2007, during which his studio netted the Genie Award for Best Animated Short for seven consecutive years.
During his early years at the NFB, David produced such classics as Log Driver's Waltz (1979) by John Weldon and The Sweater (1980) by Sheldon Cohen. David also had the distinction of serving as producer on Narcissus (1983), Norman McLaren's last film with the NFB, and Creative Process: Norman McLaren (1990), a feature-length documentary by Donald McWilliams about the NFB's legendary animation pioneer.
As executive producer of the Animation Studio since 1996, David has guided many iconic NFB films to completion, including Torill Kove's My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts (2000) and Shuibo Wang's Sunrise Over Tiananmen Square, both Oscar nominees; stereoscopic animation such as Falling in Love Again (2004) by Munro Ferguson and Moon Man (2004) by Paul Morstad; and vitally important collections like Talespinners, featuring multicultural stories for young viewers, and the ShowPeace series on conflict resolution.
Under David's stewardship, the NFB has been a key figure in developing new creative applications in stereoscopic 3D animation. He's also led the way in forging high-profile international animation co-productions. The NFB's Hothouse project for emerging filmmakers, established in 2003 by David and Michael Fukushima, has provided many emerging animators with their entry into professional animation and the rich culture of the NFB, helping to develop a new generation of Canadian animation pioneers.
