David Simkins

David Simkins began his career in film and television while still in high school in South Bend, Indiana. David was a member of the award winning and nationally recognized Junior Achievement sponsored comedy television show Beyond Our Control (1968). Four years of writing, directing, editing, acting, and cutting math class led him to the University of Iowa where he majored in film and broadcasting. After realizing he'd learned more about film and broadcasting in Beyond Our Control (1968) than any college course could ever teach him, he coasted into the theater department, acted in almost a dozen plays, wrote short stories under the guidance of folks from the Writers' Workshop (not a member, just a hanger-on), and made some oddball narrative films to satisfy his grumbling professors. A few years later, he gathered his BA degree and headed for Los Angeles. David, with the help of producer Donald P. Borchers (a fellow BOC alum), landed a job at Sandy Howard Productions. After six months answering phones, gophering, and doing script breakdowns for upcoming productions David joined Don at New World Pictures. It was there, as a development executive, that David assisted in the production of such genre classics as Children of the Corn (1984), and Crimes of Passion (1984). After successfully putting two original ideas into development at New World, David pitched a third idea that was rejected. He returned to his office, closed the door, began writing and two weeks later got his spec script, Adventures in Babysitting (1987), to Stacey Sher who gave it to producers Lynda Obst and Debra Hill. In short order, David quit his job at New World and began his career as a writer for film. After the Disney release of Adventures in Babysitting (1987), there followed a several year run of production rewrites, optioned originals, and sold pitches. It was a meeting with screenwriter Jeffrey Boam and television producer Carlton Cuse that started David in his second career in television. Boam and Cuse had sold a concept for a western to the Fox Network. David wrote the pilot, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993) (shared credit with Boam and Cuse) and the series was launched. Ambitious and fun, "Brisco" didn't catch fire with enough of an audience to keep it on the air and after one season it was gone. But David was back in the TV business. During the past few seasons he's sold (unproduced) pilots to CBS and Fox, consulted, written, and produced for Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993), Dark Angel (2000), Roswell (1999), and Charmed (1998), as well as co-creating two series in the same year, Vengeance Unlimited (1998), and Mercy Point (1998). Latest exploits include helping Syfy get Warehouse 13 out of development and on the air (pilot and two seasons as Executive Producer) and a season on Fox's Human Target.