David Frankel

Born and raised in New York City, David Frankel always dreamed of making movies for a living. He would spend hours by himself, watching classics from the 30s and 40s, while fantasizing of one day being behind the camera. He moved to Hollywood in his early 20s, with his sights set on becoming a director. It would be a long road to movie stardom, however, before Frankel got his start in the cutthroat world of Hollywood moviemaking. Like most young directors, he got his start working as a writer, having penned several episodes for the sitcom "Doctor Doctor" (CBS, 1989-1991) and co-scripting the Gene Wilder comedy "Funny About Love" (1990) for director Leonard Nimoy. In 1992 he co-wrote the screenplay for the romantic comedy "Nervous Ticks" (1992), and soon after created the TV series "Grapevine" (CBS, 1992). That show, however, was cancelled after 6 episodes. Having waded in obscurity for close to a decade, Frankel broke out in 1996 when he wrote and directed the comedic short film "Dear Diary." The film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short, thus turning Frankel into an overnight sensation. Before long he started helming episodes of the HBO miniseries' "From the Earth to the Moon" (1998) and "Band of Brothers" (2001), as well as episodes of "Sex and the City" (HBO, 1998-2004) and "Entourage" (HBO, 2004-2011). He made huge waves in the business in 2006 by directing Meryl Streep to an Oscar nod in "The Devil Wears Prada" (2006), and followed that up with the hits "Marley and Me" (2008) and "The Big Year" (2011). In 2016 Frankel returned to the director's chair with "Collateral Beauty." Released in December of 2016, the film starred Will Smith as a New York ad man who suffers a nervous breakdown.