BPS 201: How to Get IP and Life Rights for Your Screenplay with David Kessler

Originally from Philadelphia, David attended that city’s “Fame”
high school, Creative And Performing Arts, where his classmates
included QuestLove and Boyz II Men. He then graduated from Parsons
School of Design in New York, and worked as a graphic designer for
ad agencies, designed book covers, movie posters, and indie film
titles.

He impulsively moved to Los Angeles in 2000 and became a stand-up
comic for a while, performing at The Improv, The Vancouver Comedy
Festival, and in sketches on “The Late Late Show With Craig
Ferguson” and “The Showbiz Show with David Spade”. But he tired of
comedy clubs after a few years and focused on writing instead. In
2006, his “Will & Grace” spec made it to the semi-finals of the
Warner Bros. Comedy Workshop.

Switching to drama, he optioned the book “Minamata” (and the life
rights of the author), about the experiences of journalist W.
Eugene Smith photographing mercury poisoning victims in Japan. He
wrote the screenplay in six weeks, and it got him a literary
manager. Then Johnny Depp’s company came on board to produce with
Depp himself as the star. Filming on MINAMATA completed in the
Spring of ’19, with an expected release in Fall
2021. “Minamata” premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2020
and has since been picked up by Samuel Goldwyn Films for domestic
distribution. It also stars Bill Nighy, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu
Asano, and the singer Katherine Jenkins.

His follow up, DREAMERS (based on the book John Lennon Vs. The US),
is about John Lennon’s immigration battle with the Nixon
administration which legally set the stage (many years later) for
DACA/The Dream Act. 

David was recently hired by the director of “Minamata”, Andrew
Levitas, to rewrite a script about the two brothers who owned
Adidas and Puma and who battled each other for decades. That
project, “Adidas V Puma”, is currently out to actors and mentioned
in “The Hollywood Reporter” in early March 2021.

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