David Devine was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. He earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts in English from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and a Master of Fine Arts in film production from the prestigious University College London Film School.
In 1982, David established his own company, Devine Videoworks, where he worked in collaboration with his partner, producer/director Richard Mozer. As the creative head of the company, David directed 11 of the company's 21 major films, which have won over 110 international awards, including five EMMY Awards and five Gemini Awards.
David's commitment to family-oriented musical entertainment began in 1985 with A Young Children's Concert with Raffi, which he produced and directed. The video was certified multi-platinum in the U.S. and Canada. In 1989, David produced and directed a second video, Raffi in Concert with the Rise and Shine Band, which won him a Gemini Award and received Grammy and Cable ACE nominations in the United States.
In 1989, David produced and directed his first dramatic film, Beethoven Lives Upstairs (1989) (TV),which won the 1993 Primetime Emmy Award for Best Children's Program and was selected for the Permanent Collection of the Museum of Radio and Television Arts in New York.
David co-created the concept and produced the CableACE Award-winning series The Composers' Specials, while directing two of the six episodes: Rossini's Ghost (1996) and Bizet's Dream (1994). Bizet's Dream won David his first of three Alliance for Children's Television Awards of Excellence.
David also produced five of the series' accompanying CD soundtracks with the Slovak Philharmonic. He next produced The Inventors' Specials and directed the Einstein, Galileo, and Edison episodes. In 1999, David's films were nominated for nine Emmy Awards, with five nominations for Edison: The Wizard of Light (1998) and four for Galileo: On the Shoulders of Giants (1997).
Happily, Devine Entertainment won three Emmy Awards. David has since completed producing The Artists' Specials, six new HBO original films for families. He directed three of the films, Degas, Rembrandt, and Monet. Degas won the prestigious HUMANITAS Award and Mary Cassatt: American Impressionist (1999) (TV) received two Emmy nominations, winning one EMMY, the fifth Emmy for the company.
In 2007 and 2008, David was Executive Producer of the Canadian mini-series Across the River to Motor City, which was subsequently nominated for seven GEMINI awards for excellence. In 2010, David started the private company Educated Pictures with the aim of making digital interactive content modules for educational use. In 2021, David plans to direct and go into production with his 21st film, The Runner, a feature film about the first (and only) Canadian to win the 1906 Olympic Marathon in Athens, Greece.
