David Conolly

David Conolly is an English writer, director, comedian and actor whose production company, Mansion Pictures, produced two feature-length films, Mothers & Daughters and The Understudy.

Conolly was born in Leeds. His father, Michael, worked as a chaplain in a psychiatric hospital. After also initially working in psychiatry, he was selected to join the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. This led to him making his West End debut at age 17. David went on to study performing arts at Leicester Polytechnic. It was here that he directed the Mobil Winning New Play, Woundings, and also won contributions to the National Student Drama Festival with Ode to St Cecilia. Having completed his degree, David began training as an actor at Mountview Theatre School before returning to the West End with A Passionate Woman and the award-winning A Last Bus From Bradford.

David met Hannah Davis while running Lunacy, an alternative comedy night on the London fringe. They then produced the pilot of Lunacy, which led to work in BBC Drama and Documentary.

They created festival nominated shorts and community films for the Red Cross, the Teenage Cancer Unit Trust and the National Schizophrenic Foundation. They also wrote screenplays for Hartswood Films, Quentin Morrissey, and Buffalo Pictures, as well as working on Shakespearean productions at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park, London.

As a comedian, Conolly is often seen in the Friday night show in The Main Room at The Comedy Store on Sunset Strip, Los Angeles, and has appeared at Stand Up NY in New York City, Zanies in Chicago, Flappers in Burbank, The Casablanca Resort and Casino in Mesquite, The Ice House in Pasadena, The Improv in Irvine, and recently competed in the World Series of Comedy in Las Vegas. David was also the MC at the World Marbles Competition. Conolly is the host of Hindsight News, an online spoof news show.

He created a film entitled Mothers & Daughters. Six months were spent on the film with breaks to live on during production and so that Hannah and David could earn the money needed to finance the next phase of filming. Mothers & Daughters debuted in Cannes, then played in São Paulo, Montreal, Quebec, Barcelona, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, The Hamptons, London, and Dinard. Variety wrote "Great performances, good pacing, sharp script", and they were nominated for the Golden Hitchcock Award for Direction. Mothers & Daughters was selected as one of the top six British Films of the year.

Wedding Town was developed for the UK Film Council. Shortly after, principal photography began in New York City on their second full-length feature, The Understudy, which was subsequently completed in 2008. The Understudy received the Silver Lei for Excellence in Filmmaking at the Honolulu International Film Festival in 2009, the Roger Smith Award from Cinemonde in 2009, and the award for Best Score 2008 from the UCMF (French Composers Union). They write scripts for Hannah’s father, composer Carl Davis, whom they often collaborate with. These have been performed in the Royal Albert Hall, London, and in Carnegie Hall, New York.