User:David Brooks (Actor, Film-maker)

Known as an actor for his numerous commercials, independent films, radio drama and voice over work (BBC Radio Rep,etc.), David’s wider background in the ‘seven arts’ equally informed his work as a film maker…

As a boy, David attended the Studio School of Speech and Drama in London (attended by Juliet Stephenson), performed in the West End with National Youth Theatre of Great Britain where he wrestled with both Shakespearean tragedy and a young Daniel Craig who played Tybalt to David’s Mercutio. Yes. David was the first to fight Bond!

After a diploma from the Chelsea School of Art, a first degree in Drama and Theatre, an M.A.in TV Drama (Goldsmith’s,London) and working as an actor on stage and film playing opposite Tilda Swinton, Jane Horrocks, Susanah York and Michael Gambon to name a few, David appeared in a short film directed by Ravi Kumar, with whom he discovered a mutual interest in the first draft of ‘Bhopal’.

David had travelled India in 1991 and encountered the tragedy as told by a doctor still treating victims. Realising the world had turned away from something huge and was determined to make a movie about it 'one day'. That day had finally come with the first draft of ‘Bhopal’!

David and Ravi collaborated to create a commercial film that both entertains and challenges a wide audience, covering big issues of multinational corporate governance, corruption and the aftermath of legal 'let-down' in Bhopal which set a lethal precedent for how big companies and big government negotiate disaster. The subject required a guts. Ravi Walia at Rising Star and Sahara Films took the leap. David worked in many roles throughout the film’s production, but none more enjoyable than acting opposite Martin Sheen, as Shane Miller, Carbide's 'fixer’ who "smiles it off" when things go wrong. The personification of cynical 80’s ‘spin’, Shane was written as counterpoint to Sheen’s old school American CEO, Warren Anderson, a product of David’s own father’s generation, when ‘good old American engineering’ ruled the world. Honoured to work both as scriptwriter and actor with a world class cast, David thanks all the deeply committed colleagues and investors behind the scenes who put their energy and trust into this extraordinary project and congratulates Rajpal Yadav and Tannishta Chatterjee for their extraordinary performances at the heart of the story.

David is currently under commission writing a thriller set in West Africa, once again wrestling with ‘history’ to find the human ‘story’. He and Ravi are also writing a comedy television show based in both India and the US.

David can be seen also this year be seen playing Errol opposite Michael Madsen in the feature film“The Ninth Cloud”, also released this Fall.