David Ezell
Acting
Biography
David Ezell is a Manhattan-based writer writer and actor. He grew up in rural Georgia and, as a boy, played in the yard of Flannery O’Connor’s family home. As an adolescent, he acted professionally in theater and television until his early twenties. He then pursued an academic path that led him to the Georgia Institute of Technology (as a doctoral student in film history) and Columbia University (where he became a licensed psychotherapist). After many years in private practice, he returned to acting in 2018 and trained at the Stella Adler Institute. He later studied with master teachers including James Price (founder of The Acting Studio) and the legendary Jack Waltzer. His play The Great American Scream Machine was produced as part of the annual SOOP Playwriting Competition’s top twenty selections. He is the proud co-founder of Camelback Pictures.
Known For
A former child star spirals as he becomes convinced that the people he loves most have been replaced by impostors. This listing represents an early 2025 production version of Occam’s Beard that was later withdrawn from active production. Following the withdrawal of that version, the creator returned to the original treatment and developed an entirely new screenplay from the ground up. The new screenplay received Best Short Screenplay honors at the Big Apple Film Festival (2025), along with recognition from multiple international screenplay competitions, and as of May 2026 is shortlisted for the Cannes Film Awards.
Occam's Beard: Early Version
Devoted fans retrace the road trip from one of their favorite films, Peter Bogdanovich's classic film Paper Moon.
Paper Moon Rise
Occam’s Beard is a contained psychological drama centered on a tense therapy session between a former child actor and his longtime psychiatrist. What begins as a routine appointment gradually unravels into a confrontation over memory, identity, and the stories people create to survive emotional trauma. Through fragmented flashbacks and shifting perspectives, the film explores the instability of memory and the danger of overly simple explanations in both psychology and human relationships. As buried truths emerge, the boundaries between perception and reality begin to blur for both men. The screenplay received Best Short Screenplay honors at the Big Apple Film Festival, was named a Top 10 finalist for the Filmmatic InRoads Fellowship, and as of May 2026, was nominated for Best Short Screenplay at the Cannes Film Awards.
Occam's Beard
For a group of NYC actors, the audition of a lifetime becomes a deadly lesson in how cutthroat show business really is.
Cut/Throat
Ten years after their divorce, a couple unexpectedly reunites at an amusement park, forcing them to confront their unresolved passion.