Writer-Director; Assistant Professor;
Director, UNLV Short Film Archive
UNLV Short Film Archive. office: 702-895-2535
Department of Film fax: 702-895-4395
4505 Maryland Parkway
P.O. Box 455015
Las Vegas , Nevada 89154-5015
USA
Faculty Email: david.schmoeller@unlv.edu
Personal Email: schmoeller@cox.net
Website: www.unlv.edu/faculty2/schmoeller
UNLV Short Film Archive Website: www.unlv.edu/programs/filmarchive
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Writer-director David Schmoeller's most recent feature film, “ Mysterious Museum ," a children's film, was shot in Sinia and Bucharest , Romania and New Orleans for Kushner-Locke Pictures. Schmoeller's next feature film will be “Summer Love,” a teenage love story set in Cuba . Schmoeller has two projects in development: “Don't Look Back,” a crime drama and “Wild Woman in a Wedding Dress,” a romantic-comedy; both are set in Las Vegas . Currently, Schmoeller is a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas where he is also the director of the UNLV Short Film Archive.
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Raised and educated in Texas , Schmoeller began his career as a young playwright and was awarded the Texas Good Neighbor Scholarship for studies in Mexico attending the Universidad De Las Américas , 1967-1968.
In Mexico , he studied theater with Alejandro Jodorowsky (“EL TOPO”) and was mentored in film by the legendary director Luis Buñuel .
After a stint as an interpreter for ABC Sports during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City , Schmoeller returned to Texas and completed a Masters program in Radio-TV-Film at the University of Texas at Austin .
His Thesis Film, “THE SPIDER WILL KILL YOU,” funded by a grant from the Directors Guild of America , received an Academy Award Student Film Nomination in 1974, losing in the finals to the Robert Zemeckis student short “FIELD OF HONOR.”
Subsequently, under the auspices of the American Film Institute with funding from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Schmoeller spent six months as an intern with writer-director Peter Hyams on the film “Capricorn One.”
Schmoeller's first feature “TOURIST TRAP” (which he wrote and directed) is the favorite film of master storyteller of modern horror, Stephen King. Discussing Schmoeller's work in his book “DANSE MACABRE,” King says "the writer-director ( schmoeller ) has the uncanny power to present terror in even more effective ways than many major studio releases."
Schmoeller's writing and directing credits include work on the highly-praised television series “JAMES AT 15" as well as the feature films “TOURIST TRAP;” New World's “WARRIORS OF THE WIND;” “THE SEDUCTION” for Embassy; “CRAWLSPACE,” “GHOST TOWN” and “CATACOMBS” for Empire Entertainment and the cult classic “PUPPETMASTER” for Paramount Studios. “PUPPETMASTER” subsequently became one of the most successful franchise horror films ever made, producing seven more sequels, the latest in 2003 (“PUPPERMASTER, THE LEGACY”).
Schmoeller's film “THE ARRIVAL,” a science-fiction black comedy, was selected for the Midnight Madness screening at the Toronto Film Festival.
After “THE ARRIVAL,” Schmoeller wrote and directed “NETHERWORLD,” a ghost story filmed in New Orleans . Produced by Full Moon Entertainment, “Netherworld” was also released by Paramount .
Schmoeller then directed two children's features: “THE SECRET KINGDOM ” and “MYSTERIOUS MUSEUM” in Bucharest and Sinia , Romania and New Orleans .
In addition to his feature work, Schmoeller has directed many hours of Network Television including three seasons of the CBS-USA Network television series “SILK STALKINGS” as well as “RENEGADE” and the pilot and multiple episodes of “COP FILES,” a series for the Fox Network.
In 1994, Schmoeller founded THE DIRECTORS' WORKSHOP, an organization that sponsors a variety of events and workshops exposing the work of the professional director. In the Saturday Scene Study class, a different guest directors spends the day working with actors. Since 1994, the workshop has had over 80 different directors including Paul Mazursky , Taylor Hackford, Joel Schumacher, Ron Underwood, Chuck Russell, Jim McBride, Robert Young and Griffin Dunne.
Schmoeller has also been a William Randolph Hearst visiting fellow at the University of Texas at Austin . He is currently writing a book on directing based on his observations of the many directors working at the Saturday Directors' workshop.
HONORS
Recipient of a 2004-2005 Nevada Arts Council grant.
Recipient of a 2003-2004 Planning Initiative Award (awarded by university president Carol Harter, UNLV) to create the UNLV Short Film Archive.
S.I.T.E. grant recipient to film “BAD DOG CHAT ROOM,” a 23 minute short film. 2003
William Randolph Hearst Visiting Professional, 1994; University of Texas at Austin
Student Academy Award Nomination, short film, 1975
Grant from the Directors Guild of America to film Thesis film: “THE SPIDER WILL KILL YOU,” 1974
Recipient of the Texas Good Neighborhood Commission Scholarship for Studies in Mexico , 1968
EDUCATION
Universidad de las Americas, 1968-69
University of Texas at Austin , Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, 1969-1974
American Film Institute, Intern, “CAPRICORN ONE” 1976-77
Milton Katselas , Acting 1985-1991
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Writers Guild of America - WGA
Directors Guild of America - DGA eligible
Screen Actors Guild - SAG
American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers - ASCAP
Independent Filmmakers Project, west - IFP
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
MARTY SHAPIRO
SHAPIRO-LICHTMAN AGENCY
8827 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles , CA. 90048
(310) 859-8877
FAX # 310-859-7153
DIRECTOR REEL, FILMS, AND REFERENCES: Available on request.