BIO

David Tarleton
Producer / Director / Editor / Writer / D.P.

Born in Williamsburg, Virginia, at an early age David acquired a taste for the fantastic, the surreal and the hyperreal. As a producer, director, and editor, he has created programs for Sony Pictures, The Muppets, The Sci-Fi Channel, Walt Disney Pictures, Fox, Comedy Central, Disney Channel, Tokyopop, Mattel, Universal, Warner Brothers, Baby Einstein, Showtime and more.

He currently executive produces and directs the Internet improvisational comedy series Dorkumentary, which he created with his wife, Adria Dawn. He was the sole editor of all 34 episodes of the Muppets’ series “Statler and Waldorf From the Balcony,” for Disney. The show won the Webby for Best Comedy Series, a Telly for Best Use of Comedy, and was named as one of Time Magazine’s “25 Websites We Can’t Live Without.”

After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts in film directing from the University of Southern California, David broke through by producing and directing the award-winning short film “Dinner.” After premiering at the Slamdance Film Festival, it played on the Sci-Fi Channel, and was distributed on DVD.

David was producer/co-writer/editor of “What Babies Want,” the ground breaking, award-winning documentary about birth, narrated by Noah Wyle, and recently produced and edited the followup documentary "Reducing Infant Mortality." He produced and edited “The Making of Warriors of Heaven and Earth,” and “The Making of Double Vision,” for Sony Pictures. He was also a producer, DP and editor on the documentary “Dark Secrets,” and senior editor for “The Pat Kilbane Show” for Comedy Central. During the dot-com bubble, David was the senior editor at Wirebreak, a pioneering Internet video content provider.

In addition to filmmaking, David has a strong background in the theatre. With his wife, Adria Dawn, he produced and directed the play “The Miss Firecracker Contest,” and executive produced “Rock N Roll Sex Machine,” her one-woman show. He has directed the plays “Sweeney Todd,” “No Exit,” and “The Indian Wants the Bronx.”

He was a festival programmer for nearly half a decade for the Slamdance Film Festival, helping select the feature films to be shown at the festival. David is also an accomplished musician, graphic artist and writer. Before moving to Los Angeles, for 12 years he worked as an actor/historian, recreating Eighteenth Century Virginia at Colonial Williamsburg.

He is currently an Assistant Professor at Columbia College Chicago, teaching Film Editing and Post-production, and formerly taught Documentary production at UCLA Extension, in Los Angeles. In addition to USC, David also studied filmmaking at New York University, acting at Northwestern University, and has a Bachelor’s degree in theatre directing from the University of Virginia. He can be found on the web at davidtarleton.com.