David Winning
Born
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
CitizenshipUnited States, Canadian
Occupation(s)Film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor
Years active1976 – present
Websitewww.davidwinning.com

David Winning is a Canadian-American film and television director, screenwriter, producer, editor, and occasional actor. Although Winning has worked in numerous film and TV genres, his name is most commonly associated with science fiction, thrillers and drama.

Life and career

Winning was born in Calgary, Alberta.[1] He became a dual citizen of the US and Canada in 2003 and lives in Los Angeles. He was making films at age ten with a Super 8 camera. In 1979, he received a Canada Council grant to make the sixteen millimeter drama Sequence,[2] and expanded the plotline into his first feature film Storm, filmed in the summer of 1983 in Bragg Creek, Alberta. It was shot with money that his father had set aside for film school and was screened at Cannes.[1] It took four years to finish and was released by Golan-Globus' Cannon Films International and Warner Home Video in 1988. A December 11, 1989 Los Angeles Times review called the film "taut, ambitious and darkly comic".[3]

At 27, he directed episodes of Friday the 13th: The Series for Paramount and received three Gemini Award nominations.[4] His second feature Killer Image followed in 1992; the mystery-thriller starred Michael Ironside and M. Emmet Walsh. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s he directed 45 movies and episodes of twenty-nine series, including Stargate: Atlantis,[5] ABC's Dinotopia filmed in Budapest, Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and four seasons on Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda.[6] He directed Kim Cattrall, Sean Young, and Eric McCormack in the award-winning thriller Exception to the Rule. His biggest budget studio movie to date is the $29-million kids sci-fi action sequel Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie for 20th Century Fox.[7] He directed seven episodes of the Cannell police series Street Justice with Carl Weathers.[8][self-published source?] Winning said "Episodic TV gets no respect" in a March 2000 Toronto Star interview.[9] He directed a 16-year-old Ryan Gosling in the Pilot and seven episodes of the Paramount UPN kid series Breaker High.

According to the February 2010 Avatar issue of Sci Fi magazine, he was slated to direct the movie Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage with Patrick Stewart.[10] He directed episodes of Space Channel's comedy/horror series Todd and the Book of Pure Evil and Lost Girl[1] for SYFY Channel and Showcase—and supervised and directed the far north webisode series YUKONIC online in 2011. He is directing XIII: The Series with Stuart Townsend, produced by Roger Avary for French Canal +, and multiple episodes of the live audience multi-camera sitcom Mr. Young for The Disney Channel. In 2017 he became one of the house directors on the Netflix / SYFY channel series Van Helsing; an explosive post-apocalyptic take on the vampire rising based on a graphic novel. He also started directing over a dozen Christmas and family films for the Hallmark Channel; including A Summer Romance, Tulips in Spring, A December Bride, and Unleashing Mr. Darcy, which broke the network record on social media with 47 Million tweets.

Awards

Winning has won the 1995 Gold Hugo Award and two Silver Plaques from the Chicago International Film Festival, and four national Gemini Award nominations for Best Director/Dramatic Series.[11] In 2002 he accepted the first national team award from the Directors Guild of Canada Best TV series Drama for Twice in a Lifetime and was nominated again in 2006.[12] His episode of Stargate: Atlantis, "Childhood’s End", won three awards for Directing; New York, Houston and Chicago in 2005. In April 2008, Winning won two Directing awards at the Houston Film Festival/WorldFest in Texas and a Special Jury Award for his work on the Lifetime Television vampire series Blood Ties.

2008 Hawaii Career Award and festival screenings

Winning was honored at the 2008 Big Island Film Festival in Hawaii.[13] He received a Special Career award on May 17, 2008 with a reception in his honor in Waikōloa Village. Swamp Devil also won the Golden Honu for Best Foreign feature film. A doublebill of his two monster movies was presented at the outdoor festival; Swamp Devil starring Bruce Dern and Black Swarm starring Robert Englund. The first in his trilogy was Something Beneath with Kevin Sorbo in 2007. Black Swarm also screened at the Boston Film Festival on Friday the 13th of June, 2008. Both films were produced in Montreal by Muse Entertainment for the SYFY Channel, New York City.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Director Producer Writer Notes
1987 Storm checkY checkY checkY
1992 Killer Image checkY checkY checkY
1996 Profile for Murder checkY
1997 Exception to the Rule checkY
1997 Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie checkY
1998 One of Our Own checkY
2009 Swamp Devil checkY
2014 The Town That Came A-Courtin’ checkY
2014 Mutant World checkY

Television films and series

Year Title Director Producer Notes
1989-1990 Friday the 13th: The Series checkY 3 episodes: aka Friday's Curse
1992 Neon Rider checkY Episode: "Straight Home"
1992-1993 Street Justice checkY 7 episodes
1993-1995 Are You Afraid of the Dark? checkY 10 Episodes
1993 Matrix checkY Episode: "False Witness"
1995-1997 Sweet Valley High checkY 11 episodes
1996 Goosebumps checkY Episode: "... It Came From Beneath the Sink"
1997 Dead Man's Gun checkY Episode: "The Black Widow"
1997 Breaker High checkY 7 episodes
1998 Night Man checkY 3 episodes
1998 Merlin: The Quest Begins checkY Television film
1999-2001 Twice in a Lifetime checkY 11 episodes
1999 Don’t Look Behind You checkY Television film
2000 Call of The Wild checkY Episode: "Molly Brown"
2000-2005 Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda checkY 10 episodes
2001-2002 Gene Roddenberry's Earth Final Conflict checkY 7 episodes
2002-2003 Dinotopia checkY 4 episodes
2002 Body & Soul checkY Episode: "Saviors"
2002 He Sees You When You're Sleeping checkY Television film
2004 Stargate: Atlantis checkY Episode: "Childhood's End"
2006-2007 Naturally, Sadie checkY 4 episodes
2006 Past Sins checkY Television film
2007 Blood Ties checkY 4 episodes
2007 Dinosapien checkY 4 episodes
2007 Something Beneath checkY Television film
2008 Black Swarm[14] checkY Television film
2010-2012 Todd and the Book of Pure Evil checkY 4 episodes
2012 Lost Girl checkY Episode: "Midnight Lamp"
2012 XIII: The Series checkY Episodes: "Gauntlet"; "Pong"
2012-2013 Mr. Young checkY 3 episodes
2013 Health Nutz checkY Episodes: "Juice, Jesus and Rock & Roll"; "Hypno Yoga"
2014-2015 The Stanley Dynamic checkY 4 episodes
2014-2015 Max and Shred checkY Episodes: "The Boardercross Bionic Boost"; "The Goofy Tamedog Air"
2014 The Tree That Saved Christmas checkY Television film
2014 Paper Angels checkY checkY Television film
Co-executive Producer
2015 The Magic Stocking checkY Television film
2016 Cradle of Lies checkY Television film: aka Where's My Baby?
2016 Under Fire checkY Television film: aka Who Killed My Husband?
2016 Unleashing Mr. Darcy checkY Television film
2016 The Rooftop Christmas Tree checkY checkY Television film
Executive Producer
2016 The Convenient Groom checkY Television film
2016 Tulips In Spring checkY Television film
2016 A December Bride checkY Television film
2016 The Mistletoe Promise checkY checkY Television film
Executive Producer
2017 Infidelity in Suburbia checkY checkY Television film
Executive Producer
2017 While You Were Dating checkY Television film
2017 Engaging Father Christmas checkY Television film: aka A Family for the Holidays (Canada); Winter Wedding (UK)
2017 Falling For Vermont checkY Television film
2017 Finding Santa checkY Television film
2017 Van Helsing checkY 6 episodes
2018 Winter's Dream checkY Television film
2018 Marrying Father Christmas checkY Television film: aka. Winter Wedding (Canada) (post-production)
2018 Time for Me to Come Home for Christmas checkY Television film
2019 A Summer Romance checkY Television film
2019 Sense, Sensibility & Snowmen checkY Television film
2019 A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas checkY Television film
2020 Time For Us to Come Home for Christmas checkY Television film
2021 Crossword Mysteries: Riddle Me Dead checkY checkY Television film
Supervising Producer
2021 The 27-Hour Day checkY Television film
2021 You, Me and The Christmas Trees checkY Television film
2021 The Nine Kittens of Christmas checkY Television film
2022 Time For Him to Come Home for Christmas checkY Television film
2023 Field Day checkY Television film
2023 A Christmas Blessing checkY checkY Television film
Executive Producer

References

  1. ^ a b c Volmers, Eric (2012-01-21). "Calgary director gets shot at a succubus". Calgary Herald. Archived from the original on 2014-12-10. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  2. ^ "Calgary Magazine Freeze Frame, September 1987, by: Linda Kupecek, "The Winning Way"".
  3. ^ "LA Times review by Kevin Thomas, December 11, 1989".
  4. ^ "1989, 1990 Gemini Awards 3 nominations". Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Archived from the original on 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  5. ^ "SYFY Channel's official Stargate: Atlantis site for "Childhood's End"". Archived from the original on 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
  6. ^ "The Sci Fi World.Net Interview with David Winning, June 2005".
  7. ^ Volmers, Eric (January 19, 2009). "Hollywood's Hired Gun". Calgary Herald. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
  8. ^ "Street Justice Interview, August 2000".
  9. ^ "Toronto Star, March 17, 2000, by: Jim Bawden, " Carver convincingly troubled in rare TV outing "".
  10. ^ "Pre-production Begins on Middle Eastern Fairy Tale Sinbad The Fifth Voyage". News Net Publisher. July 16, 2009. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2009.
  11. ^ "1989, 1990, 1997 Gemini Awards 4 nominations". Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Archived from the original on 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  12. ^ "2002 DGC Team Awards TV Series Drama for "Moonshine Over Harlem"". DGC. Archived from the original on November 23, 2007. Retrieved November 19, 2009.
  13. ^ Bruce Dern/David Winning Film Swamp Devil Premieres on SCI FI CHANNEL from Encyclopedia.com
  14. ^ "RHI official site Black Swarm". RHI Films. Retrieved December 25, 2009.

External links

Films directed by David Winning
Authority control databases
Categories