Alumni Spotlight: David Leidy '10

David Leidy ’10 graduated from New York University (NYU) in 2015 with a BA in Literature and Creative Writing minor. While there, he became one of the founding members of the reinstated cinema society Delta Kappa Alpha (DeKA), an organization whose members include George Lucas, Alfred Hitchcock, and Steven Spielberg. During this time, David also wrote many published articles as a staff writer for Washington Square News.

In Los Angeles, David was mentored by Emmy® winner of the College Television Awards Justin Lerner and interned for Mike Medavoy at Phoenix Pictures (production company of Shutter Island). In 2013, he wrote, directed and produced Atonia with cinematography by SXSW® nominated cinematographer under Prodigium Pictures (production company of HBO’s Gaming Wall Street and Monster Party). This led to David being a screenwriter on Paradise starring Cortney Palm of Sushi Girl.

David Leidy's short film Faded Love won Best Film Noir of the Year at the 2018-2019 Annual Awards of Independent Shorts Awards (ISA). His film Platonic won Best Director of the Year at AOF MegaFest (highest honors among 16 interrelated festivals) of the Action on Film International Film Festival. It soon acquired limited theatrical distribution from Fourwalled in 2019.

David was an executive producer on Unidentified Objects, a film made in association with his production company Eidetic Pictures, which received a Certified Fresh status on Rotten Tomatoes. The film stars Golden Globe® nominee Sarah Hay and Matthew Jeffers from The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. It was an Official Selection at Fantastic Fest 2022 and won the audience award for Best Narrative Feature at LA Outfest 2022. It was distributed by Quiver Distribution in 2023 and is now streaming on Hulu, Amazon and Paramount+.

David lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Dasha Leidy, and daughter, Savannah.

What were your primary interests and activities while you were at Whitfield?

At Whitfield, I was all about reading, writing, running, filmmaking, and skateboarding. The last two, albeit, were done mostly outside of school. I joined the track team my freshman year, running the 4x800m with a few seniors. It was a bit intimidating at first, but they were nice enough to take some young blood under their wing.

Looking back, I wish I had taken it more seriously. Coach Kim Breckenridge was such a trooper for putting up with me. She was so supportive despite me being this angsty teen trying to fit in. I didn’t fully appreciate her belief in me then, but I’m grateful to have had it now. 

Other interests and activities included, Big Brothers and Sisters, The Iliad [Yearbook], band, writing poetry for The Secret Voice [now called Perspectives], and more.

What skills do you use in your career that you began forming at Whitfield?

Whitfield gave me the writing, communication, and critical reasoning skills necessary to not only excel in university but also in my career. Whitfield provided me with the skills to internalize and analyze art and literature in a way where I was able to clearly communicate my views on the page and with a group of people, to discern what was working or wasn’t in a piece and to succinctly map out why. These are essential skills for being a writer and filmmaker.

What opportunities did Whitfield provide you that you might not have had elsewhere?

Whitfield provided me with the opportunity to try so many things later in high school than I would have been able to at another school. I was able, for instance, to play on the tennis team my junior year. I also joined the student-directed One Acts as an actor toward the end of that year.

Whitfield also instilled in me a sense of community, one that allowed for free expression and thought. Everybody knew everybody and, on some level, we were all friends or at least friendly acquaintances. That sense of community for anybody who has ever been a part of Whitfield is still there for me today.

What were some of your favorite classes at Whitfield? Why?

My favorite classes included Photography with Cara Foster through high school and Film History with Mary Schnitzler as an elective my senior year.

In addition, I enjoyed Literature with Sara Ringe as a sophomore, Laura Lotz as a junior, and Larry Hays as a senior. Creative projects, such as developing a character in Ringe’s class and writing a short story inspired by the symbolism of Winesburg, Ohio with Lotz, were particularly impactful, making me realize how fulfilling telling your own stories could be.

My seventh grade Theater class with Keith Borzillo was also memorable. Although initially daunting, improvising scenes became a highlight. Some of my classmates’ skits could rival those of Saturday Night Live. At the end of the year, we even produced our own short films. This experience, along with eighth grade Theater with Mary Schnitzler, helped me to gain confidence in myself.

Art class with Luke Cano was another favorite. I enjoyed pottery making and assembling a photo collage as a final assignment. I still cherish both; although I believe the collage turned out better than my lopsided pots!

Other favorites included Spanish with Cipriano Casado and then Catalina Martinez. Casado’s excitement while having us watch Motorcycle Diaries sparked my interest in Jose Rivera, who is now one of my favorite playwrights. In Martinez’s senior class, we analyzed Spanish cinema, including films such as Maria, Llena Eres de Gracia, and Como Agua Para Chocolate.

Reflecting on these experiences, it’s evident why these classes resonated with me: they all connect to my current passion for film.

Describe your career. 

I work as a filmmaker at my production company Eidetic Pictures. One of the more exciting things to happen recently, aside from producing a feature film with my friend Juan Felipe Zuleta, was working with writer Gregory Paul, who is involved with a nonprofit organization and a theatre company in Minnesota, to teach filmmaking to the community.

Over the past three summers, I’ve worked as a program facilitator for a filmmaking workshop called Workbench Filmmaker Intensive in association with my production company. The workshop is a program created by Paul and designed and facilitated by me with new participants each year.

With the help of Paul, I guide them through the process of how to make a short film: from writing the script to editing the final cut which is then screened in front of a live audience at the end.

In association with Northern Light Opera Company and made possible by a grant from the Region 2 Arts Council, Eidetic Pictures and team have successfully produced 11 original short films and counting. I believe 2024 has been our best year yet.

It’s been so enriching to see the participants of this workshop learn and progress as not only filmmakers but as people. I think film has the power to do that. I think whenever you tell a story you’re searching for a transformative experience to give the audience. To see people go through that process, and particularly to help guide them through that process, is incredibly rewarding.

I think what writing and film fulfill in me is a need for self-expression as well as a therapeutic urge to relinquish my fears and anxieties by putting them down on the page and then capturing them on camera to be experienced on screen. There are fewer things more rewarding for me than seeing a film I’ve put my heart and soul into projected onto the big screen after all the months and even years of hard work that went into making it.

In the future, I would like to gain a wider audience and eventually be able to make a sustainable living by simply writing and directing. I also want to give back to the filmmaking community and communities that mean so much to me, such as Whitfield, in whatever ways I can.