David Bushell
Birthplace: United States
David L. Bushell is a veteran film producer who shifted into feature directing as well as producing with the documentary, Cheech and Chong’s Last Movie (2024), profiling the career of the comedy team comprising Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin, produced by Bushell’s own Bushell Productions and released by Keep Smokin’ after premiering at the South by Southwest Film Festival.
Bushell’s long run as a producer includes several acclaimed and Oscar-winning movies, starting with Billy Bob Thornton’s brilliant drama, Sling Blade (1996), which earned Thornton two Oscar nominations and a win for Best Adapted Screenplay, and grossed $34 million for Miramax Films. Bushell then produced two indie movies, the Nick Gomez-directed Illtown (1996) and Niagara, Niagara (1997), with Henry Thomas and Robin Tunney, who won the Best Actress Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival, and produced and released by The Shooting Gallery.
Bushell was a lead producer of indie filmmaker Michael Almereyda’s horror film The Eternal (1998), starring Alison Elliott, Jared Harris, and Christopher Walken, and released by Trimark Pictures after premiering at the Toronto Film Festival. Bushell took on lead producer tasks via The Shooting Gallery on director/co-writer Hampton Fancher’s serial killer drama, The Minus Man (1999), co-starring Owen Wilson, Sheryl Crow, and Dwight Yoakam, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival and released by Artisan Entertainment and The Shooting Gallery.
Bushell, as lead producer, joined star/director/writer/producer Laurence Fishburne for his crime drama, Once in the Life (2000), with Titus Welliver, Eamonn Walker, Paul Calderon, and Annabella Sciorra.
Bushell was an executive producer for director/story writer (with writer Charlie Kaufman) Michel Gondry’s imaginative surrealist romance, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), co-starring Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood and Tom Wilkinson, winning a Best Screenplay Oscar and an Oscar Best Actress nomination for Winslet, while grossing a fine $74 million for Focus Features.
Bushell, with Mark Johnson, produced the comedy The Wendell Baker Story (2005), with Luke Wilson as co-director/writer/star, Andrew Wilson as co-director, Owen Wilson as co-star, and cast members Eva Mendes, Seymour Cassel, Harry Dean Stanton, Kris Kristofferson, Eddie Griffin, Will Ferrell, and was released by THINKFilm after premiering at the South by Southwest Film Festival. Bushell then produced the erotic thriller, Deception (2008), co-starring Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, and Michelle Williams under Marcel Langenegger’s direction, and earning a disappointing $17 million (against $25 million costs) for distributor 20th Century Fox.
Bushell shifted to comedy mode as producer (with lead producer Judd Apatow) of director/co-writer/co-producer Nicholas Stoller’s music comedy, Get Him to the Greek (2010), a spin-off sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), co-starring Jonah Hill, Russell Brand Elisabeth Moss, Rose Byrne and Colm Meaney, and grossing $95.5 million for Universal Pictures.
Bushell served as an executive producer on the acclaimed docudrama, Dallas Buyers’ Club (2013), starring Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner and Jared Leto under Jean-Marc Vallee’s direction, garnering McConaughey and Leto the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Oscars (plus another for Makeup, and six total nominations) and grossing $55 million globally on a $5 million budget for Focus Features after premiering at the Toronto Film Festival.
Personal life
David L. Bushell was born and raised in the U.S. by his parents.
Known For
Sling Blade
(1996)
Deception
(2008)
Dallas Buyers Club
(2013)
David Bushell Movies
director
Previous (1)
- 2025 |
Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie
Exploring their 5-decade career performing stand-up, making records, and starring in hit films. It covers their lives, comedy partnership, and lasting influence on pop culture.
actor
Previous (11)
Facts About David Bushell
Shingle: David L. Bushell was a key member of The Shooting Gallery, a highly regarded production and distribution shingle in the 1990s and 2000s, which went bankrupt in 2001. Bushell formed his shingle later, as Bushell Productions.
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