David Scala is a second-generation Filipino-American filmmaker who received his BFA in Film Production from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. His five short films have screened at over 150 film festivals worldwide, including the Seattle International Film Festival, Palm Springs International ShortFest, Outfest, Frameline, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, CAAMFest, and more.

He is a 2023 Semi Finalist for the Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, a Creative Capital Award Quarterfinalist, and a Gold House Futures Member. His feature screenplays have placed and advanced at the Sundance, Austin, Outfest, Nashville, and Hamptons Screenwriting Labs, along with the Final Draft, Emerging Screenwriters, Screen Craft, Launch Pad, and Creative World Awards script competitions.

His most recent short film ENGAGED (2019) starring Daniel K. Isaac (BILLIONS) and Ryan Jamaal Swain (POSE), screened at over 65 film festivals worldwide, including 7 Academy Award-Qualifying festivals. It won Best Comedy Short at the New Hampshire Film Festival, Best Short Film at ReelQ Pittsburgh, and numerous audience awards. The film was distributed internationally in 2020, and is currently available on YouTube. Another of his short films GROTTO is also available on YouTube, where it has over 3 million views. 

In 2017, he wrote and directed a full-length stage play AMONG THE FURIES, which won the Best of Fest Award for Best Play at the New York Theatre Festival out of 86 productions, in addition to winning Best Actress and Best Scenic Design. He was also nominated as Best Director. The show returned for a sold-out, critically acclaimed run at the 2018 New York International Fringe Festival.

He is currently developing his feature film directorial debut.