Biography
David Valdes is an American film producer. Born in Los Angeles in 1950, he earned a Bachelor of Theater Arts degree from UCLA. He began his career as an assistant director on films including Raging Bull (1980), working with directors such as Martin Scorsese, Wim Wenders, Clint Eastwood and Francis Ford Coppola. He moved into producing as associate producer on Eastwood’s Pale Rider (1985).
Valdes has produced numerous films with Eastwood and Coppola. His credits include Unforgiven (1992), The Green Mile (1999), for which he shared an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, Open Range (2003) and The Book of Eli (2010). He has also served as executive producer and unit production manager on Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025).
