David Vaisbord

Director / Producer Writer / Writer

David Vaisbord is a Gemini nominated Canadian filmmaker who brings a unique vision and a dramatic intensity to all of the films that he makes.  

David’ first one-hour documentary titled MISCHA was an international search for clues about the life of his brilliant but reclusive uncle, the violin-prodigy Mischa Weisbord. Completed in 1996 with funding from the Canada Council, NFB and the CBC (Adrienne Clarkson Presents) it received awards and nominations including a Gold Apple (USA), and a nomination for The Chalmers Award (Canada). Vaisbord then produced, directed and wrote a psychedelic road trip titled JUICY DANGER MEETS BURNING MAN supported by TVO, CTV, and BRAVO! It was one of TVO’s highest rated documentaries of 1998, made celebrities out of its two leads — the hair-raising comedic/thrill-seeking duo Tom Comet and Christine Taylor — and received the Special Jury Prize at the Yorkton Short Film festival.

David then moved on to develop new projects with new partners. As co-producer, director and writer David collaborated with Screen Siren Pictures on BRITANNIA BEACH (1998 – 2001) and on DRAWING OUT THE DEMONS: A film about the artist Attila Richard Lukacs (1999 – 2004). BRITANNIA BEACH, the story of a mining town, the dreams of its residents, and its legacy of environmental devastation, was made with support from the BC Cultural Fund, CTV, TVO, SCN, Knowledge, and the NFB. A Gala premiere at Toronto’s Planet in Focus film festival was followed by broadcast on the CBC’s “Docs on the Coast.” DRAWING OUT THE DEMONS: A film about the artist Attila Richard Lukacs was funded by BRAVO! TVO and Telefilm Canada. Shot to a large extent by the director himself as he accompanied the artist through some of his darkest days in his New York Studio, the film follows gifted “bad-boy” of the art world, Attila Lukacs, on a very intimate journey from drug addiction to spiritual and creative renewal. Since it’s premiere in Toronto at Hot Docs 2004, the film has screened at over a dozen international festivals including the Cork (Ireland) International Film Festival and the Northwest (USA) Film and Video Festival. Nominated for 2 Gemini Awards including Best Director of a Documentary, and Best Arts Documentary, the Globe and Mail calls the film “wonderfully voyeuristic” and “compulsively watchable,” while the Atlantic Film Festival contends that, “Drawing Out the Demons may be the most honest and substantial documentary ever made about a world-class artist.”

With Laughing Mountain Communications David directed and co-wrote the one-hour docu-drama DARK PINES for BRAVO! which premiered in October of 2005. Lightspeed Productions Ltd. (David’s company) loans out David’s services as a director “for hire”. For Insight Productions and Global Television David has directed for the series DRIVER’S SEAT (13 X 30) and for History Television one half-hour episode of GHOST TOWNS OF SASKATCHEWAN.

As producer, co-director and co-writer David is currently in development with CBC’s Passionate Eye on the feature documentary DOGS BY ACCIDENT: The lives and imagined future of Herb Williams and the SUPERDOGS.

David is also working on a hyper-local documentary called the LITTLE MOUNTAIN PROJECT >>  

David is a graduate of the University of British Columbia and Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, speaks fluent French, and resides in Vancouver with wife Sheril Gelmon and their two children.