David began his career as a production assistant on "Saturday Night Live". He entered the casting field as an assistant and then associate to Mary Goldberg on such films as "Ragtime", "Silkwood" and "Amadeus". David then moved to Los Angeles to team with veteran casting director Lynn Stalmaster on "The Name of the Rose", "The Big Easy" and many other films.

Opening his own casting company, David was responsible for assembling the casts of such films as: "The Addams Family", "The War of the Roses", "Fried Green Tomatoes", "My Cousin Vinny", "The Firm", "Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Get Shorty", "Romeo + Juliet", "The English Patient", "Men in Black", "My Best Friend's Wedding", and "The Talented Mr. Ripley". In partnership with Richard Hicks, David cast the films "Hairspray", "Lars and the Real Girl", "Recount" (HBO), "The Smurfs" and "Game Change" (HBO), for which they received the 2012 Emmy Award. Most recently, David worked with director Jean-Marc Vallee ('Dallas Buyers Club') casting his film 'Wild' for Fox Searchlight and with Warren Beatty on his upcoming Howard Hughes film.

In 2001, David was the recipient of the Hollywood Film Festival Award for Outstanding Career Achievement in the Field of Casting, presented by Sydney Pollack. In October 2002, Baz Luhrmann presented him with an Honorary Career Achievement Award from the Casting Society of America.