David Steinberg

While earning a Bachelor’s in Radio-TV-Film from Northwestern University, he returned every summer to Los Angeles to earn his stripes as a production artist. After college, he transitioned into a role as an Assistant Director for Sullivan Bluth Studios, following the company from LA to Dublin, Ireland, where he resided in the local Jewish community for almost three years. He contributed to feature films such as The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, Land Before Time, and All Dogs Go To Heaven.

On American Tail, Steven Spielberg’s chronicle of a Jewish mouse family emigrating from Russia. David became the studio resource for all things Jewish. He consulted with his grandfather in Chicago about Russian life and advised the writers and artists on Jewish observance. After returning to Los Angeles, David directed several short projects and later joined with fellow Chicagoan Barry Weiss (Skokie Yeshiva 1977 grad) to form Turner Feature Animation where they co-produced The Pagemaster in 1994 on a shomer Shabbos schedule.

David is currently serving as Director of Production for Walt Disney Feature Animation. David is thankful to the teachers he had at the Academy, who fostered his creativity, by encouraging projects, including audio tapes, artwork, and even an animated Super 8 history project instead of the more traditional papers, as well as student run endeavors, like the yearbook.

Back to Alumni Profiles