David Mirkin
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David Mirkin | |
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 Mirkin at Comic Con 2007 | |
| Occupation(s) | Director, writer and producer |
David Mirkin (born September 18, 1955) is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer, known for his work on The Simpsons. He is a native of Philadelphia and an alumnus of Loyola Marymount University. He has won several Emmys along with the Peabody Award.
Early life
He was born and raised in Philadelphia and graduated from Northeast High School in 1975.[1] Mirkin started out in an electrical engineering career but after an internship at Philadelphia's Drexel University opted to give it up. He moved to Los Angeles, California and attended film school.[2]
Career
Mirkin started out as a stand-up comedian in 1982 and performed across the United States, including at the Comedy Store and The Improv.[3] His first job writing for television was on the American version Three's Company. Mirkin was the executive script supervisor and writer for Newhart from 1984 to 1985. In 1986 he became executive producer and showrunner through 1988, continuing to write and also direct episodes.[3] In 1987 he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series.
In the early 1990s, Mirkin created a television series with comedian Chris Elliott, entitled Get a Life,[3] which he also wrote and directed. He also wrote a pilot with Julie Brown and Charlie Coffey entitled The Julie Show, starring co-creator Brown. It was not picked up for the fall season.
Mirkin also created, wrote and directed the Fox Network sketch comedy show The Edge from 1992 to 1993. From 1992 to 1998, Mirkin was one of several directors for the HBO series The Larry Sanders Show.[3] He also wrote on the show as a consultant during its first season and had previously worked on It's Garry Shandling's Show.[2]
Mirkin was the executive producer/showrunner for the animated series, The Simpsons during its fifth and sixth seasons (1993 – 1995).[4] He was the program's first solo showrunner and often directed the voice actors.[3] His sole writing credit is for the episode "Deep Space Homer", in which Homer and Barney are recruited by NASA. Mirkin had worked on the idea for the episode for a long time, basing the story on NASA's Teacher in Space Project scheme to send ordinary civilians into space in order to spark interest amongst the general public.[5] There was some controversy amongst the show's writing staff during production. Some of the writers felt that having Homer go into space was too "large" an idea.[5] Matt Groening felt that the idea was so big that it gave the writers "nowhere to go." Several silly gags were therefore toned down to make the episode feel more realistic, including an idea that everyone at NASA was as stupid as Homer.[6] The writers focused more upon the relationship between Homer and his family and Homer's attempts to be a hero.[5] Mirkin won three Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on The Simpsons and a Peabody Award.[3]
Mirkin still works part time for the show, helping with the re-write process.[7] He also was the executive producer for two episodes in the ninth season of The Simpsons ("The Joy of Sect" and "All Singing, All Dancing") and three episodes for season 7 ("Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two", "Lisa the Vegetarian" and "Team Homer"). "Lisa the Vegetarian" was approved by Mirkin after the story was pitched by David Cohen; Mirkin had just become a vegetarian himself, and so many of Lisa's experiences in the episode were based on his own.[8] Mirkin flew to London to record the episode's guest stars Paul and Linda McCartney at Paul's recording studio,[9] where the McCartneys spent an hour recording their parts. Mirkin later said that recording with the McCartneys was one of the most "amazing" experiences of his life and considers the episode one of his favorites.[8] He also co-wrote The Simpsons Movie in 2007.[10]
Mirkin has directed the feature films: Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997) and Heartbreakers (2001). For Heartbreakers, Mirkin rejected the project three times because he disliked the script. While he liked the idea of a mother and daughter con woman team he found the writing "really broad. It had no emotion in it." Eventually Mirkin was allowed to rewrite the script himself, which he did over a year. He filmed the project in Florida and Los Angeles. Mirkin cameos in the film as Jack's lawyer.[3] He also directed the James Taylor video "Enough to be on Your Way".
Personal life
Mirkin is a vegetarian.[8]
References
- ^ Jonathan Storm (1995-10-14). "Taped! From Los Angeles! It's Saturday Night! 'Mad TV' Debuts". Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D12.
- ^ a b Bob Ivry (1997-05-03). "The Odd Life of David Mirkin - From Science To Comedy". The Record. p. y04.
- ^ a b c d e f g Steve Head (2001-03-30). "Interview with David Mirkin". IGN. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
- ^ Richmond, Ray (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family. Harper Collins Publishers. p. p. 120 and 149. ISBN 0-060-19348-4.
{{cite book}}:|page=has extra text (help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c Mirkin, David (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "Deep Space Homer" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Groening, Matt (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "Deep Space Homer" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Rob Lowman (2005-08-16). "DVD - Reviews Of New Releases Nothing A Stretch For 'Simpsons'". Daily News of Los Angeles. p. U4.
- ^ a b c Mirkin, David. (2005). Commentary for "Lisa the Vegetarian", in The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ "They all live in a yellow cartoon scene". The Hamilton Spectator. May 10, 1995. p. D3.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ "About the DVD". The Simpsons Movie.com. 20th Century Fox. Retrieved 2007-11-29. On the main page, click on "About the DVD" then on "Production Notes".
External links
- David Mirkin at IMDb