David Sabel

David Sabel is the Head of Digital Media at the National Theatre (NT). Originally from Washington D.C., he oversees the ‘National Theatre Live’ project.  Now in its second season the project involves certain productions being filmed and then broadcast live to cinemas around the world, allowing the NT to reach a very diverse audience.

In his short 'See Britain' film, David says that theatre often has the reputation of being only for the privileged and wealthy. He argues that this is certainly not the case in the UK.

Speaking during the first season of National Theatre Live, he celebrates the fact Britain is committed to making its theatre as open and accessible to as many people as possible.  And he believes the productions the National puts on and talent it attracts embody the UK’s rich culture. His job as digital producer is to open up UK theatre further by exploiting digital opportunities on offer.

National Theatre Live pushes technological and digital boundaries breaking the mould of traditional theatre going. The first season was seen by over 165,000 people on 320 screens in 22 countries. David says he got a real buzz from receiving emails reacting positively to the project from Iceland to Kansas.

David tells us the UK makes it clear that the Arts are important. The National Theatre was founded in 1963. It seeks to reach a broad audience through effective programming choices, keeping ticket prices down, and being bold, contemporary and accessible. He describes the theatre itself as an international hub, situated on the South Bank of the Thames in London with people from all different nationalities popping in every day.

David Sabel trained as an actor at Northwestern University in Chicago and L'École Jacques Lecoq in Paris. After working as a chef for three years in Paris he studied for an MBA from Cambridge University in the UK. His dissertation looking at digital opportunities in the arts led him to the National Theatre, where he stayed on to produce the pilot season of National theatre Live and the National’s first documentary, 'Making War Horse,' In September 2009 he was appointed as the theatre’s first Head of Digital Media to develop and co-ordinate its growing digital strategy.