--- name: "David Mandel" canonical: "https://film.one/person/david-mandel" fi1m_id: "david-mandel" imdb_id: "nm0541635" tmdb_id: 57407 wikidata_id: "Q3018358" roles: ["Writer","Producer","Director"] born: "24 September 1970" reviewed_on_fi1m: 6 average_fi1m_score: 89 average_as: "writer" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-23T23:43:18.929076+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # David Mandel ## Identity David Mandel - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/david-mandel - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** david-mandel - **IMDb ID:** nm0541635 - **TMDB ID:** 57407 - **Wikidata ID:** Q3018358 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Mandel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3018358, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541635/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/57407 Writer and producer. Born 24 September 1970 in USA. ## Details - **Work:** Writer, Producer, Director - **Born:** 24 September 1970, USA - **Active:** 1989–present - **Also known as:** デイビット・マンデル - **Titles on Fi1m:** 6: 1 acting, 3 directing, 2 writing - **Frequently works with:** [Alec Berg](https://film.one/person/alec-berg.md), [Billy Kimball](https://film.one/person/billy-kimball.md), [Jeff Schaffer](https://film.one/person/jeff-schaffer.md), [Jennifer Crittenden](https://film.one/person/jennifer-crittenden.md), [Alex Gregory](https://film.one/person/alex-gregory.md), [Andy Ackerman](https://film.one/person/andy-ackerman.md), [Dan O'Keefe](https://film.one/person/dan-okeefe.md), [David Steinberg](https://film.one/person/david-steinberg.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 89, as writer, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 89 (2), 2000s 84 (1), 2010s 66 (2), 2020s 58 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Mandel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3018358, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541635/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/57407 ## Streaming the US now - **HBO Max:** [*Curb Your Enthusiasm*](https://film.one/tv/curb-your-enthusiasm.md) (84), [*Veep*](https://film.one/tv/veep.md) (82), [*White House Plumbers*](https://film.one/tv/white-house-plumbers.md) (58) - **Netflix:** [*Seinfeld*](https://film.one/tv/seinfeld.md) (90) - **Disney+:** [*The Simpsons*](https://film.one/tv/the-simpsons.md) (88) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on David Mandel > David Mandel is good at getting selfish people into complicated trouble, and less reliable at knowing when to leave them there. We rate his ensemble comedy highly; the longer, louder humiliations can wear us down. In the seasons of *Veep* (2012) overseen by David Mandel, an episode often seems to be waiting for somebody's humiliation. The set-pieces grow bigger, and the characters get less room to be anything beyond their worst behaviour. It is still funny, but we prefer it when the embarrassment arrives without quite so much preparation. Mandel knows how to arrange a comic disaster; he is less dependable at deciding how long it deserves our attention. His writing on *Seinfeld* (1989), which he joined in 1995, put that skill to work among people capable of making a crisis out of almost nothing. He wrote *The Bizarro Jerry*, though the programme's exceptional plotting and ensemble playing should not be credited to one writer. On *Curb Your Enthusiasm* (2000), he worked as a director and producer from 2005 to 2011, alongside creator and star Larry David. We recommend both programmes, with *Curb* best taken an episode at a time: repeated quarrels can become wearing even when the supporting performers know precisely how long to let somebody talk. Mandel took over *Veep* after Armando Iannucci left following the fourth season, serving as showrunner from 2016 to 2019. Julia Louis-Dreyfus makes its contempt for politicians funny enough that we still recommend staying with them. But the seventh season is too loud, and the pleasure in cruelty becomes more conspicuous. Across the programme, the fact that nobody believes anything starts to feel like an excuse not to write a scene in which somebody means what they say. The limits are plainer in *White House Plumbers* (2023), which Mandel directed. Peter Huyck and Alex Gregory created and wrote the series, and their good insults give Justin Theroux's Liddy plenty to work with. We grew weary of Hunt and Liddy's repeated failures, because five episodes keep asking us to laugh at much the same incompetence. The half-hour cruelty of *Veep* becomes hard work at this length, although Lena Headey's kitchen-table scenes have a tenderness the buffoonery badly needs. For Mandel at a more rewarding pace, choose one of his *Veep* episodes instead. ## Biography David Mandel is an American writer, producer and director. He graduated from Harvard University in 1992, where he contributed to the Harvard Lampoon, and began his career writing for Saturday Night Live. He wrote for Seinfeld during its seventh, eighth and ninth seasons (1995–1998) and for The Simpsons (2012). Mandel served as executive producer, director and writer on Curb Your Enthusiasm (2005–2011) and as showrunner and executive producer on Veep (2012–2019). His other credits include co-writing EuroTrip (2004), The Dictator (2012) and The Cat in the Hat (2003). *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (6) ### Performed in (1) - *Jay and Silent Bob Reboot* (2019), Fi1m 50, as Mooby's Coffee Addict — [page](https://film.one/film/jay-and-silent-bob-reboot.md) ### Directed (3) - *White House Plumbers* (2023), Fi1m 58, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/white-house-plumbers.md) - *Veep* (2012), Fi1m 82, Executive Producer, Writer, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/veep.md) - *Curb Your Enthusiasm* (2000), Fi1m 84, Executive Producer, Director, Consulting Producer, Story — [page](https://film.one/tv/curb-your-enthusiasm.md) ### Wrote (2) — the average rests on these - *Seinfeld* (1989), Fi1m 90, Producer, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/seinfeld.md) - *The Simpsons* (1989), Fi1m 88, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-simpsons.md) ## Complete filmography (19) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *White House Plumbers* (2023), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/tv/white-house-plumbers.md) - *Jay and Silent Bob Reboot* (2019), as Mooby's Coffee Addict — Fi1m 50, [page](https://film.one/film/jay-and-silent-bob-reboot.md) - *Diverge* (2016), Producer - *Clear History* (2013), Writer, Producer - *The Dictator* (2012), Producer, Screenplay - *Veep* (2012), series, Director, Writer, Executive Producer — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/veep.md) - *Rage* (2009), Production Manager - *EuroTrip* (2004), Producer, Writer, Director - *The Cat in the Hat* (2003), Screenplay - *Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back* (2001), as Extra (uncredited) — Fi1m 54, [page](https://film.one/film/jay-and-silent-bob-strike-back.md) - *Curb Your Enthusiasm* (2000), series, Executive Producer, Director, Consulting Producer, Story — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/curb-your-enthusiasm.md) - *Clerks* (2000), series, Writer, Story, Teleplay, Creator - *It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World* (2000), Screenplay - *Best Laid Plans* (1999), as Evangelist - *Saturday Night Live: The Best of Phil Hartman* (1998), Writer - *The Simpsons* (1989), series, Writer — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-simpsons.md) - *Seinfeld* (1989), series, as Man In Theatre, Twitching Patient, Farmer, Dave Mandel · Writer, Producer — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/tv/seinfeld.md) - *Dave and Steve's Video Game Explosion*, series, Producer, Creator - *Untitled How the Grinch Stole Christmas Sequel*, Screenplay --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/david-mandel