David Simkins is an American screenwriter and television producer. His first produced screenplay was for the film ''

Adventures in Babysitting ''Adventures in Babysitting'' (also known as ''A Night on the Town'' in certain countries) is a 1987 American teen comedy film written by David Simkins and directed by Chris Columbus in his directorial debut. It stars Elisabeth Shue, Keith Coo ...

'' in 1987. He has written for and produced television shows such as '' Charmed'', '' Blade: The Series'', '' Dark Angel'' and '' Warehouse 13''.

Early life and education

Simkins grew up in

South Bend South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. He graduated from Clay High School in 1977, where he was active in the production of the

Junior Achievement JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide is a global non-profit youth organization founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and Winthrop M. Crane. JA works with local businesses, schools, and organizations to deliver experiential learning ...

-sponsored comedy series ''

Beyond Our Control ''Beyond Our Control'' was an American youth-produced television series that aired on local NBC affiliate WNDU-TV in South Bend, Indiana for 19 seasons from 1967 to 1986. Usually televised from late-January to mid-May of each year, the program w ...

''. Simkins learned the basics of television production on the series, which was broadcast locally on

WNDU-TV WNDU-TV (channel 16) is a television station in South Bend, Indiana, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Elkhart-licensed Heroes & Icons affiliate WSJV (channel 28). Both stations share studios on the c ...

. After graduating high school, he studied film and broadcasting at

The University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...

, earning a bachelor's degree in 1982.

Career

He moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, and got his first job at Sandy Howard Productions answering phones, and later reviewing and budgeting film scripts. Simkins told

The South Bend Tribune The ''South Bend Tribune'' is a daily newspaper and news website which is based in South Bend, Indiana. It is distributed in South Bend, Mishawaka, north central Indiana, and southwestern Michigan. It has been named as a "Blue Ribbon Newspaper" ...

, "That's where I learned how scripts were written… I learned how they came up with a budget." He later worked for a short period of time as a development executive for

New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 19 ...

. He has been an active writer and producer for television since his involvement with '' The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.'' in 1993-1994. Further work includes ''

The Dresden Files ''The Dresden Files'' is a series of contemporary fantasy/ mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, '' Storm Front''—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books. The books are wr ...

'', and ''

Human Target The Human Target is the name of two fictional characters in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first is Fred Venable, while the second is private investigator and bodyguard Christopher Chance who assumes the identities of clients tar ...

''. His most recent work was '' Powers'' and ''

Wu Assassins ''Wu Assassins'' is an American supernatural action streaming television series, created by John Wirth and Tony Krantz that premiered on Netflix on August 8, 2019. The series stars Iko Uwais, Byron Mann, Lewis Tan, Lawrence Kao, Celia Au, Li ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simkins, David American male screenwriters American television producers American television writers University of Iowa alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male television writers