David O'Donnell is an Australian director, writer, and film producer known for his debut feature film ''Under My Skin'', starring

Liv Hewson Liv Hewson (born 29 November 1995) is an Australian non-binary actor and playwright. Their written work includes "lots of re-imaginings of fairytales and mythology with a queer and dark slant." They starred as Abby Hammond in the Netflix series ...

, Alex Russell, and Bobbi Salvör Menuez.

Early life and education

David O'Donnell grew up in a working class family, the son of a cleaner (father) and nurse (mother). He grew up in

Maroubra Beach Maroubra ( ) is a beachside suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 10 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Randwick. Maro ...

, an eastern suburb of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia, then known for crime and violence. It also had a surfing community, which he joined, and describes his teenage years as "wild". He graduated from the

Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a performing arts school in Perth, Western Australia. Established in 1980, it is notable for being the most comprehensive performing arts school in Aus ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

in 2007.

Career

O'Donnell worked for several years in Australian theatre, film, and television. He wrote, produced, and directed the

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

''Picture Wheel'' which screened at numerous festivals including

Palm Springs 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 ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

Cinequest The Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival is an annual independent film festival held each March in San Jose, California and Redwood City, California. The international festival combines the cinematic arts with Silicon Valley’s innovation. It i ...

, and

Santa Monica Film Festival The Santa Monica Film Festival & Moxie Awards is an annual film series and awards show held in Santa Monica, California, United States. History The Santa Monica Film Festival & Moxie Awards was created by Albert Birdie deQuay, also known as Bi ...

s. It won Best Short Film at Santa Monica. It was sold to

Gunpowder & Sky Gunpowder & Sky is a Los Angeles–based independent studio that produces feature films, series, short-form content, and podcasts. The company was founded in 2016 by Van Toffler and Floris Bauer. It runs DUST, a sci-fi streaming service featurin ...

. O'Donnell's dark comedy short ''Love & Dating: in LA!'' (writer, producer) screened at festivals around the world, including

Cleveland International Cleveland International Records is an independent record label formed in 1976 by Steve Popovich, Sr. originally founded in Willoughby, Ohio and moved to Nashville. History One of the first albums the label released was ''Bat Out of Hell'' (1977) ...

, Hollyshorts, and Santa Monica Film Festival, where it won the Audience Choice award, and sold to

El Rey Network El Rey Network (Spanish for ''The King'') is a media brand founded by Robert Rodriguez on December 15, 2013, that is currently owned in a joint venture with FactoryMade Ventures. Until December 31, 2020, El Rey was a cable and satellite network ...

. His debut feature ''Under My Skin'' (writer, director, producer) was nominated for Best Indie Film in the

11th edition In music theory, an eleventh is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a fourth. A perfect eleventh spans 17 and the augmented eleventh 18 semitones, or 10 steps in a diatonic scale. Since there are only seven degrees in a diaton ...

of the

AACTA Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the cinema of Australia, film and ...

in 2021, and received an Australian Director's Guild nomination. ''Under My Skin'' screened at various festivals including

NewFest NewFest: The New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival, put on by NewFest (legal name The New Festival, Inc.), is the largest LGBTQ film festival in the United States and one of the most comprehensive forums of national and inte ...

Santa Barbara Film Festival The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is an eleven-day film festival held in Santa Barbara, California in February annually, since 1986. The festival screens over 200 feature films and shorts from different countries and regions. ...

, and Raindance and was acquired by Australian streaming platform Stan^{/sup> and 1091 Pictures

1091 Pictures was an American production company based in New York City and Los Angeles. The company was founded as the film and television division subsidiary of The Orchard in 2015. The company is best known for the Oscar-nominated films ''Li ...
in the US. ''Under My Skin'' premiered in the US and Canada on June 6, 2023.^[

Five Lip Films

In 2014 O'Donnell co-founded production company Rockpool Films, later renamed Five Lip Films, with Alex Russell, James Saivanidis, and Sarah-Jane McAllan. The company operates out of both Sydney and Los Angeles.

In academia

O'Donnell has lectured on writing and performance at various institutions, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M.I.T. and Edith Cowan University

Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public research university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Parliaments of the Australian states and territories, Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is, , t ...
.

Filmography

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:ODonnell, David
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Australian directors
Edith Cowan University alumni}