Daily Inspiration: Meet David Lipper

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Lipper.

Hi David, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started as an actor in the 1980s and starred on a Canadian teen drama called, Time of Your Life, which I did 75 episodes of. I graduated from Emerson College with a BFA in Musical Theatre in 1991. I then immediately moved to Los Angeles after graduating to pursue acting. After a few failed TV Pilots, Warner Brothers put me on Full House in 1994. I’ve gone on to star in over 60 films and 200 episodes of television. In the early 2000s, while stuck on location with some downtime, I decided to try writing a script. I ended up tinkering with this idea, a question really, where do all of those dear Santa letters go that kids write during the holidays? That culminated in a film, A Christmas Letter, which premiered on UpTV this past Christmas Eve in the coveted 7:00PM time slot and remarkably, had made it on several top 10 lists for best Christmas films of the year for 2023. I didn’t know it at the time, but that would lead to me writing several other scripts, including The Unwilling (which I also starred in and was released in 2017), Hunt Club, which came out this past April, and two more scripts which I’ll be looking to make in 2024, The Neglected and Little Moscow. In 2021, my friend Robert A Daly Jr, son of the famed chairman of Warner Brothers from 1980 to 2000 (Robert A Daly), had approached me about working together more than we’ve already been doing. We formed Latigo Films in October of 2021. Since then, we’ve gone on to make 15 films at a torrid pace with an aggressive slate earmarked for 2024. Having played varsity hockey at Emerson College for all four years, hockey is still a very important part of my life. You can still find me on the rink three times a week.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, it’s the movie business. “The road is long with many a winding turns”. There has been tons of heartache, such as when Kaufman/Bright/Crane and Warner Brothers gave me my own show in 1993. I was their top testing pilot and their other pilot “Friends”, was right behind us. They could’ve put me on that too. It was rather difficult that year to not only see my show get pulled at the last minute before having a chance but then to see my co-stars, Giovanni Ribisi and Kaley Cuoco, go on to huge things, and Hillary Swank go on to get an Academy Award. It was truly the most incredible cast and script. It was just one of those things. Fox got the rights to Football that year, and they decided to go with a sports-themed show instead of ours.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
At the end of the day, acting has always been what I do best, as it’s what I’ve done my whole life. While I’m closing the gap quickly as a producer, with 30 films now under that hat, it still pales in comparison to the 60 films and 200 episodes of television I’ve done as an actor. If you look at the book Outliers, the magic formula of 10,000 hours to greatness has been well passed on the acting side. I’ve probably surpassed that now on the producing side as well. What’s been a more recent joy has been Directing. I taught acting for many years, and I will never forget when I was work-shopping the script that became “Death Link”, the writers watched me direct the actors in class and wondered why I wasn’t directing the film. Also, my friend Seth Howard who brought the film to me suggested I direct the film too. I’m not one to ignore the signs. So, I took a chance in 2020 and started the year off prepping the film. Only to find a pandemic had broken out in the middle of my shoot. That strangely gave me a unique ability and perspective on how to direct a film under dire circumstances.

That led to me to directing “The Curse of Wolf Mountain” at the beginning of 2022 while most people were still in lockdown hoping and waiting for the vaccine. Later in 2022, I got to direct my third feature, “Murder at Hollow Creek”. Getting better at each film and understanding the process more and more. Like anything, with experience also comes confidence. I always knew I would be a good director for the actors, but working for so many years on set has given me a pretty solid foundation on how the camera works. I really enjoy breaking down the shots with my cinematographers on each of these projects. I’m looking forward to directing “The Neglected” in 2024, along with some other projects over the next couple of years.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Most people don’t know I was a musical theatre guy and did musicals all the way up until the early 1990s. James Lapine was actually the one who gave me a burst of confidence when he came back stage at our Boston production of Into the Woods and told me I was a standout and told me to keep going for it. Full House was amazing because it gave me an opportunity to sing and play along with acting, but that was probably the last time I’ve been able to do both; where the acting side was able to take off, the musical side was left behind.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.latigofilms.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latigofilms/