David Atkins is Assistant Professor of Communication at Quinnipiac University. He is a writer-director-producer for film and television. Four of his screenplays have been produced. These include "Arizona Dream" starring Johnny Depp and "Novocaine", starring Steve Martin and Helena Bonham Carter, a film that David also directed. He has written screenplays for Paramount, Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures, DreamWorks, MTV Films, MGM, and UGC, as well as scripts for directors Oliver Stone and Luc Besson. David was also a full time faculty member of the Graduate Film Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where he worked with artistic director Spike Lee. He received his M.F.A. from Columbia University's Graduate Film Program where he has also taught film directing. He is currently featured in a new anthology, "Now Write!: Screenwriting Exercises from Today's Best Writers and Teachers", published by Penguin Books.