David Grandison Jr.
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
David Grandison Jr. was born in Portland Oregon, raised in Detroit Michigan, and received a Masters Degree in Instructional Design and Media from Columbia University. David has led innovative, award-winning studios and he is an expert in streaming video, short-form film production and VR/360-degree storytelling.
David started his career in production innovating in streaming reality TV and short-form video as a producer at the Pseudo Online Network. This studio's pioneering work was documented in the film We Live in Public (2009). This network offered numerous live-streamed shows focused on music programming from, talk show-style interview shows and live music performances to DJ sets. The streaming site evolved to live streaming shows with hosts and guests covering wide range of music and pop culture topics. David started his career as a PA on the show Levis: A Semester Online, eventually working his way up to the role of Producer on the Spacewatch shows Deep Sky, Mission Control Over and Cosmic Visions(sponsored by The Omega Watch Company).
As Senior Producer for the Scholastic Teacher Channel, he was awarded a Webby for his work redesigning and bringing to life the Teacher Community website; and he has also led a team as an Instructional Designer and Writer for BMW University Studios.
Later as Senior Producer for the Sundance Channel, he led online production as Senior Producer for "The Green" which was one of the first weekly television programming blocks promoting sustainable lifestyles (Sponsored by Lexus and Smith Barney). The project featured shows like Big Ideas for a Small Planet (2007), Ecoist (2007), and The Sundance Channel's Green Porno (2013). He and his team conceptualized the first Google map-based social network, produced on-air promos and web-based video segments, created a virtual Sundance Island, and led documentary screenings in Second Life.
He is also co-creator of DIYdoc, an iOS App that enables organizations to crowdsource the creation of short films by enabling users to use simple templates that are created in collaboration with top filmmakers like Jonathan Olinger and Earle Sebastian. As Executive Producer, he designed film templates and campaigns for numerous causes. Alicia Keys' We Are Here Foundation and the Keep a Child Alive with Alicia Keys (2011) team used the DIYdoc app to help hundreds of volunteers to create short films to not only to draw attention to the struggles of activists, and refugees, but also to highlight the positive stories of people living successfully with HIV.
David reimagined how health info is shared with teens as the Supervising Producer who helped found the Amaze Project. He conceptualized a strategy to commission a diverse group of talented young animators from around the world to create short animations on each topic. As supervising producer his teams produced a series of 30+ short animations on challenging educational topics like sexual health, mental health, and gender identity. He and his animation teams won numerous awards. The animation; "Jim's Introduction to Gender Identity" won First Place for Mixed Media and Experimental Film in the Florida Animation Festival, First Place (Excellence in Education) in the ASIFA Awards, and it was showcased in the Splice Film Festival and the Manchester Film Festival. The animation; "Why Don't I Like The Way I look" won first place (Excellence in Writing) in the ASIFA Awards and premiered in the Animation Block Film Festival at BAMcinématek in Brooklyn and the animation "Boobs and More: A Very Short Guide to Female Puberty" won Excellence in Education in the ASIFA Awards and premiered in the Animation Block Film Festival at BAMcinématek in Brooklyn.
He is also a Producer on the team for God Said Give 'Em Drum Machines (2022) a feature film on the birth of the Techno music scene in Detroit. The film explores how Detroit's underground music culture revolutionized dance music around the world forever. The first part of the project was a doc short called Electric Roots (2014): The Detroit Sound Project. This project was selected as an Official Selection Cannes Court Metrage Short Film Corner. David worked behind-the-scenes with the team to craft the transmedia strategy and the development of the online and web promo strategy, researching, locating original sources, scheduling and providing support for interview shoots in New York, Detroit, Russia, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo, well as directing and shooting many of the interviews used in both of these projects.
David now works as part of the Yellowbrick (Yellowbrick.co) team as Executive Producer. Yellowbrick pairs the world's leading universities, with brands like Billboard Magazine, Complex Magazine, Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue, GILT Groupe, NBA, NFL, and Condé Nast to develop real-world learning experiences that help tomorrow's leaders discover and explore their career passions.
Ultimately, he has a passion and focus on utilizing cutting-edge technology to create interactive multimedia projects, apps and games utilizing video, animation and VR to tell powerful stories that make learning fun.
David started his career in production innovating in streaming reality TV and short-form video as a producer at the Pseudo Online Network. This studio's pioneering work was documented in the film We Live in Public (2009). This network offered numerous live-streamed shows focused on music programming from, talk show-style interview shows and live music performances to DJ sets. The streaming site evolved to live streaming shows with hosts and guests covering wide range of music and pop culture topics. David started his career as a PA on the show Levis: A Semester Online, eventually working his way up to the role of Producer on the Spacewatch shows Deep Sky, Mission Control Over and Cosmic Visions(sponsored by The Omega Watch Company).
As Senior Producer for the Scholastic Teacher Channel, he was awarded a Webby for his work redesigning and bringing to life the Teacher Community website; and he has also led a team as an Instructional Designer and Writer for BMW University Studios.
Later as Senior Producer for the Sundance Channel, he led online production as Senior Producer for "The Green" which was one of the first weekly television programming blocks promoting sustainable lifestyles (Sponsored by Lexus and Smith Barney). The project featured shows like Big Ideas for a Small Planet (2007), Ecoist (2007), and The Sundance Channel's Green Porno (2013). He and his team conceptualized the first Google map-based social network, produced on-air promos and web-based video segments, created a virtual Sundance Island, and led documentary screenings in Second Life.
He is also co-creator of DIYdoc, an iOS App that enables organizations to crowdsource the creation of short films by enabling users to use simple templates that are created in collaboration with top filmmakers like Jonathan Olinger and Earle Sebastian. As Executive Producer, he designed film templates and campaigns for numerous causes. Alicia Keys' We Are Here Foundation and the Keep a Child Alive with Alicia Keys (2011) team used the DIYdoc app to help hundreds of volunteers to create short films to not only to draw attention to the struggles of activists, and refugees, but also to highlight the positive stories of people living successfully with HIV.
David reimagined how health info is shared with teens as the Supervising Producer who helped found the Amaze Project. He conceptualized a strategy to commission a diverse group of talented young animators from around the world to create short animations on each topic. As supervising producer his teams produced a series of 30+ short animations on challenging educational topics like sexual health, mental health, and gender identity. He and his animation teams won numerous awards. The animation; "Jim's Introduction to Gender Identity" won First Place for Mixed Media and Experimental Film in the Florida Animation Festival, First Place (Excellence in Education) in the ASIFA Awards, and it was showcased in the Splice Film Festival and the Manchester Film Festival. The animation; "Why Don't I Like The Way I look" won first place (Excellence in Writing) in the ASIFA Awards and premiered in the Animation Block Film Festival at BAMcinématek in Brooklyn and the animation "Boobs and More: A Very Short Guide to Female Puberty" won Excellence in Education in the ASIFA Awards and premiered in the Animation Block Film Festival at BAMcinématek in Brooklyn.
He is also a Producer on the team for God Said Give 'Em Drum Machines (2022) a feature film on the birth of the Techno music scene in Detroit. The film explores how Detroit's underground music culture revolutionized dance music around the world forever. The first part of the project was a doc short called Electric Roots (2014): The Detroit Sound Project. This project was selected as an Official Selection Cannes Court Metrage Short Film Corner. David worked behind-the-scenes with the team to craft the transmedia strategy and the development of the online and web promo strategy, researching, locating original sources, scheduling and providing support for interview shoots in New York, Detroit, Russia, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo, well as directing and shooting many of the interviews used in both of these projects.
David now works as part of the Yellowbrick (Yellowbrick.co) team as Executive Producer. Yellowbrick pairs the world's leading universities, with brands like Billboard Magazine, Complex Magazine, Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue, GILT Groupe, NBA, NFL, and Condé Nast to develop real-world learning experiences that help tomorrow's leaders discover and explore their career passions.
Ultimately, he has a passion and focus on utilizing cutting-edge technology to create interactive multimedia projects, apps and games utilizing video, animation and VR to tell powerful stories that make learning fun.