David got his start at the Muppets designing and building puppets for Sesame Street, Dinosaurs, Jim Henson’s Animal Show, and The Muppet Christmas Carol. He was trained as a puppeteer by Jane Henson, Brian Henson, and lead performer Kevin Clash. David is a member of the Jim Henson Company’s puppet improv workshops, and was cast as a puppeteer in Disney’s feature film, The Muppets, starring Amy Adams and Jason Segel.
David worked at PIXAR for eight years in the Story Development Team for the critically acclaimed feature films, Toy Story 2 (Golden Globe®-winner for Best Picture), Monsters, Inc., and Cars (Golden Globe®-winner for Best Animated Feature). He was also the production artist on the Academy Award®-winning short film, Geri’s Game, and the assistant art director on Toy Story 2.
Toy Story director and visionary John Lasseter brought David into the Pixar Story Team to help re-imagine Toy Story 2 during a major rewrite less than a year before theatrical release. David played a critical role in solving structural problems, storyboarding, developing overall story arcs, and bringing both new and established characters to life. Lasseter then asked David to help him in the early story development of Cars. After his contributions on Monsters, Inc., director Pete Docter invited David into a two-man brainstorming team for his next feature project that would later evolve into the Academy Award®-winning film Up.
