David Kendall: Unmasking Hollywood - 40 years of Stories and Stars

David Kendall is writer/producer/director who has worked in both television and

film for decades. His credits include series for the broadcast networks, cable outlets,

and streaming services. He has created shows, run shows, and directed pilots. He’s

been a member of the Writers Guild of America since 1985 and a member of the

Directors Guild of America since 1990.

He has produced and written for iconic situation comedies like ABC’s Growing Pains

and Boy Meets World and has directed classic kids’ programs like Nickelodeon’s

iCarly and Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana. For five years, he Executive Produced

a series he co-created for ABC Family/Freeform entitled Melissa & Joey, a romantic

comedy which concluded its run in 2015 after 104 episodes. He wrote and directed

episodes of the series as well.

In 2020 he Executive Produced The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia, a half hour

coming-of-age comedy for Netflix, directing their memorable musical Christmas

episode. More recent directing credits include Erin & Aaron for Nickelodeon, Sydney

to the Max for the Disney Channel, and Katharine McPhee’s Netflix series Country

Comfort.

On the feature side, David directed Steppin’ Into the Holiday, a musical Christmas

movie starring Mario Lopez, which premiered in November of 2022 on the Lifetime

Network. Previously, he directed the teen comedy Dirty Deeds, starring Milo

Ventimiglia, Zoë Saldana, and Charles Durning. In that same genre, David wrote The

New Guy, a Sony Pictures release which opened in 2600 theaters. He has co-written

and/or produced several movies for television, including The Growing Pains Reunion

Movie - a reunion for David as well, since that show was his very first television

credit.

In terms of actors, David has worked with Oscar Winners, Emmy Winners, Tony

Winners, Grammy Winners, Professional Wrestlers, Adult Film Actors, Olympic Gold

Medalists, and NFL Hall of Famers. With many family shows to his credit, he’s

directed scores of talented young actors, from A (Ariana Grande) to Z (Zendaya). He

has credits on over 40 different series. All told, that’s over 600 episodes of television

- 200 plus of them as director.

He has been a guest speaker for classes and workshops at USC and the American

Film Institute. Since 2023, David has been a Visiting Instructor at Wesleyan

University (his alma mater) where he teaches a directing workshop. He continues

his freelance directing career while also developing scripts for television and film. A

Philadelphia native, David resides in Los Angeles with his wife and their three

children.

Television Series Credits (Partial List):

Growing Pains - 1985-1991- writer, producer

Just the Ten of Us - 1988-1990 - writer, director

Boy Meets World - 1994-1999 - writer, producer, director

Clueless - 1999 - director

Even Stevens - 2003 - director

That’s So Raven - 2003 - director

Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide - 2004-2007 - director

Hannah Montana - 2006 - director

iCarly - 2007-2012 - director

Zoey 101 - 2007-2008 - director

Melissa & Joey - 2009-2015 - co-creator, writer, producer, director

Victorious - 2010-2013 - director

Big Time Rush - 2010-2012 - director

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