David E. Tolchinsky

David E. Tolchinsky is the chair of Northwestern University's Department of Radio-TV-Film and Founder/Director of Northwestern University's MFA in Writing for Screen+Stage. As a screenwriter, his feature film Girl is distributed by Sony and has been seen internationally. He has been commissioned by such studios as Touchstone/Disney, MGM, Ivan Reitman's Montecito Pictures, USA Networks, Edward R. Pressman Film Corp, and Addis-Wechsler & Assoc./Industry Entertainment to write feature screenplays. He is the author of original screenplays such as The Last Crash and Reflections on a Teenage Anti-Christ featured in a New York Times article about home offices. Some of his work centers on teen subcultures such as heavy-metal fans, Florida surfer teens, teen groupies, and female football players, particularly in relation to social decay. He is also interested in horror, both psychological and physical. As a sound designer, he has designed the sound for interactive computer environments and video installations which have been exhibited internationally. In 2003, he was nominated for a Motion Picture Sound Editors Guild Golden Reel Award for his sound design for Dolly. In 2009, he co-curated The Horror Show at Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs in New York City which explored horror in film, video, installation, photography, sculpture and painting and which was featured as a The Village Voice "Voice Choice for Art" and on their blog, and which was accompanied by a 32-page catalog. Recently, he co-produced Debra Tolchinsky's feature documentary, Fast Talk. He also published "Where's the Rest of Me?" a reflective humor piece about Spalding Gray in Paraphilia Magazine and co-curated with Debra Tolchinsky The Presence of Absence sponsored by the Contemporary Arts Council at Hairpin Arts Center, chosen by Chicago Magazine as one of the "16 best art gallery shows to see now in Chicago" and described in The Huffington Post as "The space is gorgeous, the art solid, challenging, yet accessible. This is a wonderfully odd, powerful, thoughtful show" and in The Chicago Tribune as "a remarkable group exhibition" and "a rich viewing experience and also a rare one." Most recently, he was ranked #14 on New City's Film 50: Chicago's Screen Gems 2013, was the recipient of a 2014 Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship in Literature (Poetry, Prose, Scriptworks) and was voted Best Director for his play, Where's the Rest of Me? (which was nominated for Best Play), at the 2015 Riant Theatre One-Act Play Festival, New York City. He is a graduate of Yale (1985, BA, magna cum laude) and USC School of Cinematic Arts/School of Cinema-Television (1988, MFA).