David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick

David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (né Johnson) is an American screenwriter and producer of film and television. He has written the screenplays for the films Orphan, Wrath of the Titans (2012), The Conjuring 2 (2016) and its sequels The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) and The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025), and the DC Extended Universe films Aquaman (2018) and its sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023).

Early life and education Johnson was born and raised in Mansfield, Ohio. He began writing plays in the second grade. He graduated from Lexington High School in Lexington, Ohio. He attended Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography and cinema.

Career Johnson began his career as a production assistant on Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption, which was filmed on location in Johnson's hometown of Mansfield, Ohio, at the historic Ohio State Reformatory, where Johnson's great-grandfather had been a prison guard. Johnson spent the next five years as Darabont's assistant, using the opportunity to hone his craft as a screenwriter. He wrote at least two scripts for the cancelled Return of the Thing, a four-hour sequel mini-series to John Carpenter's 1982 cult classic The Thing. The project was ultimately cancelled for unknown reasons. He later worked with Darabont on his television series The Walking Dead and Mob City.

Johnson has collaborated several times with filmmaker James Wan, contributing entries in The Conjuring franchise, dramatizations of the real-life cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren, as well as the DC Comics film Aquaman and its sequel. He is set to write a film adaptation of the board game Mice and Mystics. He wrote a sequel to The Flash as well.

Filmography Film Year TitleWriterExecutiveproducer Director 2009 Orphan Jaume Collet-Serra 2011 Red Riding Hood Catherine Hardwicke 2012 Wrath of the Titans Jonathan Liebesman 2016 The Conjuring 2 James Wan 2018 Aquaman 2021 The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It Michael Chaves 2022 Orphan: First Kill William Brent Bell 2023 Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom James Wan 2025 The Conjuring: Last Rites Michael Chaves 2026 Insidious: Out of the Further Jacob Chase

Television Year TitleWriterConsultingproducer Notes 2011–2022 The Walking Dead 14 episodes 2013 Mob City 2 episodes

Other credits Year Title Role 1994 The Shawshank Redemption Production assistant 1999 The Green Mile Assistant to Frank Darabont 2021 Till DeathProducer 2026 Orphans