David Schisgall is an American documentary filmmaker and writer based in Brooklyn, New York. His most recent project is the 2025 Peacock docuseries Anatomy of Lies. Career Earlier in his career Schisgall was an associate of Errol Morris, working on A Brief History of Time, Fast, Cheap & Out of Control, Mr. Death, and other projects. His directorial debut, The Lifestyle (1999), explored suburban swinging culture. During the 2000s, he served as a conflict reporter for MTV, covering the Second Intifada in Israel/Palestine, the war in Iraq, and the civil war in Colombia for True Life and other programs, reaching millions of young viewers with insights into America’s conflicts abroad. In 2004, he received the Edward R. Murrow Award for his film about Iraq. Following this, he produced Operation Filmmaker (2007), focusing on collaboration during wartime Iraq.
In 2007, Schisgall directed and produced Very Young Girls, a documentary about the commercial sexual exploitation of young women in New York City. Activists in the space called it "the film which launched a movement." He also developed episodes of This American Life for television in 2007–2008. He co-wrote the screenplay for Our Idiot Brother (2011), a comedy directed by Jesse Peretz. Another project, Theo Who Lived (2016), documented journalist Theo Padnos’s captivity by an Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria. In 2020, Schisgall directed and produced The Oil War, which explored America’s military involvement in the Middle East based on the works of Col. Andrew Bacevich.
Schisgall has served as an Adjunct Faculty member at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University. Personal life Schisgall is married to Evgenia Peretz, a writer for Vanity Fair. Selected filmography YearTitle Contribution Note 2024 Anatomy of Lies Director and executive producer Documentary series 2020 The Oil War Director and producer Documentary 2016 Theo Who Lived Director and writer Documentary 2011 Our Idiot Brother Writer Feature film 2010 Five Weddings and a Felony Producer Documentary 2007Very Young Girls Director and producer Documentary 2007Operation Filmmaker Producer Documentary 2003-2004True Life Director and Producer Documentary series 1999The Lifestyle Director Documentary Awards and nominations YearResultAwardCategoryWorkRef.2008 NominatedWarsaw Film FestivalBest DocumentaryVery Young Girls2005 WonEdward R. Murrow AwardBest News DocumentaryTrue Life: I'm Living in Iraq References
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