David McDonald, Head of Comedy

With a career spanning 3 decades, David McDonald has been an Executive Producer with Endemol Shine Australia (ESA), and formerly Shine Australia, since 2012 when he joined the MasterChef Australia team as Co-Executive Producer. In 2022, David’s role at ESA was elevated to Head of Comedy, where he was tasked to take charge of steering the company into new territory in the form of scripted and sketch comedy, as well as other light entertainment projects.

David’s production credit’s include award winning productions MasterChef Australia, Gogglebox, LOL: Last One Laughing and LEGO® Masters.

David’s career in the Australian TV industry began in 1990 and has seen him work closely with Andrew Denton before joining forces with producer John Eastway to launch production company McDonald Eastway in 1999. In 2001 he wrote, directed and produced the satire Life Support for SBS and directed the first series of the Election Chaser for the ABC, then in 2004 David joined Crackerjack as Director, Producer, and Writer.