David Conover

David Conover

Founder & Board President

Filmmaker David Conover was born and raised in a New England family with strong ties to the sea and a tradition of active storytelling. In 1990, he founded the production company Compass Light.  Over 600 award-winning productions have been delivered to clients and broadcasters including Discovery, Science Channel, PBS NOVA, and many others around the world. The company has been listed as a Top 100 global production company by Realscreen Magazine. In early 2014, David founded Conservation Media Group. He has a strong personal stake in the cause in addition to being passionate about the ocean and highly motivated to seek a green energy future. Positioned to be third generation in a family oil distribution business, he saw his father realize, in retirement, that fossil fuels were not the future: "I'm appreciative that previous generations did what they thought best. But we've learned a lot over the last 75 years... and we need to change the ship's course as quick as we can for the next 75."

In 2014-15, David returned to academia with an appointment as the Coastal Studies Scholar at Bowdoin College in Maine, where he designed and taught "Seashore Digital Diaries" and "Science to Story." He resides in the seaport of Camden, Maine where he and his wife Beverly raised their daughter and son. David has taught at the International Film and Television Workshops and serves on the Hurricane Island Foundation Board of Directors and The Ocean Foundation’s Advisory Board, with former service on the Mystic Seaport International Council and the Penobscot Marine Museum Board of Directors.  Summer caretaking duties of a Maine lighthouse are shared with his extended family.