David Acomba was born (1944) and raised in Montreal, Quebec, and attended Bishop Whelan High School in the suburb of Lachine.

A musically oriented director, Acomba began in 1969 by directing a television special for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Mariposa: A Folk Festival, with Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell.

He then directed the first U.S. television network rock special for PBS (NET), Welcome To The Fillmore East,[1] with Van Morrison, Albert King and The Byrds.

Acomba, used to substantial artistic control as a film director, felt there was a wide creative divide between himself and the shows television producers.

Interested in utilizing television to promote awareness of the environment, Acomba directed and co-produced two seasons of the documentary ecology series Down To Earth, which featured remarkable Canadians and the landscapes that inspire them.

In 2003, Acomba directed the performance documentary A Marriage In Music[5][6] featuring concert pianist Anton Kuerti and cellist Kristine Boygo for CBC's premier arts program, Opening Night.

[7] In 2007, 33 years after initial filming, Acomba revisited his original director's cut of George Harrison's 1974 Dark Horse Tour with Billy Preston, Tom Scott and Ravi Shankar.

The movie, which has never been screened publicly, includes cameo appearances by John Lennon and Paul McCartney as well as rock promoter Bill Graham.

His last design, a modern town house near Lake Ontario, was featured in the Toronto Star and illustrates the similarities between film making and the process of architecture.