David Sontag

David Sontag, the Wesley Wallace Professor of Communication Studies is the director of the Writing for the Screen and Stage Program in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is an award-winning writer and producer and has written for Columbia Pictures, MGM, and Hollywood Pictures among others. Mr. Sontag has held important creative and executive positions at NBC, CBS Films and ABC. At ABC, he was Executive Producer of the Network and in charge of all Specials. Among the many shows, he was responsible for while there were Truman Capote’s “A CHRISTMAS MEMORY” and “SHINDIG” which he created and developed. In addition to his numerous television and film credits, Mr. Sontag was Senior Vice-President and creative head of 20th Century Fox Television. During his stay at Fox, he was responsible for some of our most outstanding television such as MASH and Maya Angelou’s SISTER – SISTER as well as creating and developing the critically acclaimed television series JAMES AT FIFTEEN and THE PAPER CHASE

Mr. Sontag has been a consultant to the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of California, Riverside, where he helped develop a film, theater, and media BFA program for the University. In addition he was a member of the Faculty at the American Film Institute and has lectured and been a Resource scholar at such institutions as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Study, The University of Southern California, The University of Colorado, The University of New Mexico, The College of Santa Fe, The Institute for American Indian Art and The University of Richmond Law School.
Mr. Sontag is President of the Board Directors of Doc Arts, Inc. the parent company of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and Institute, a Trustee of the North Carolina Symphony and a member of its Program Advisory Board, a member of the Board of the Friends of the PlayMakers Repertory Company, and a member of the Board of Directors of both, EarthEcho International, a non- profit environmental foundation, and North Carolina Hillel. He is the Founder of the Native Americas International Film Exposition and has been on the Advisory Board for the College of Santa Fe's Greer Garson Studios as well as a past Trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the Aspen Music Festival. Mr. Sontag, a nominee for both the Writers' Guild and Humanitas awards, is listed in Who's Who in Entertainment, Who's Who in America, and Who's Who in the World.