Biography
David Handelman is a former print journalist who transitioned into TV writing and producing, contributing to shows on CBS, NBC, ABC, HBO, the CW, and CNN.
He entered television by co-writing a spec script for "Larry Sanders" with Mark McKinney from Kids in the Hall. Aaron Sorkin read their work and hired them to co-write a freelance episode of Sports Night, which became the season 1 episode "Sword of Orion." The next year, Handelman adapted a challenging real-life interview with Michael Jordan into the season 2 Sports Night episode "The Sweet Smell of Air."
He went on to join The West Wing’s writing staff in its fourth season, Sorkin’s last on the show, and has written for all four of Sorkin’s TV series to date.
Handelman has also written and produced for two daytime talk shows, the short-lived but beloved CBS series Love Monkey, season six of One Tree Hill, CNN’s Eliot Spitzer program, Good Morning America, season two of ABC’s Nashville, the DirecTV series Rogue, and CNN’s Smerconish.
Before his TV career, he was a staff writer at Rolling Stone, covering topics ranging from the Beastie Boys and Sam Kinison to folk artist Howard Finster and AIDS activists ACT UP. He edited two “HOT” issues and two comedy-themed issues. He also served as arts editor and writer for Vogue and contributed to numerous publications, including The New York Times, New York magazine, GQ, Details, Premiere, and Spy.
