Mark Leiren-Young

Recent screen projects include writing and directing the short documentary, The Hundred-Year-Old Whale, writing and acting in ReBoot: The Guardian Code and writing the MOW thriller, The Perfect Match.Mark is in post-production on a feature documentary based on his bestselling non-fiction book, The Killer Whale Who Changed the World.He has several screenplays in development, including an adaptation of sci-fi legend Spider Robinson's Very Bad Deaths.Mark is a three-time finalist for the Writers Guild of Canada Awards - most recently for the screenplay for his movie, The Green Chain, which he wrote and directed.His stage plays have been produced throughout Canada, the US, Europe and Australia. His play, Shylock is in repertory at Prague's Divadlo Na Jezerce until 2020.His memoir, Never Shoot a Stampede Queen, won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.As a journalist, Mark is a regular contributor to The Walrus, The National Observer and The Georgia Straight and has written for TIME, Maclean's, The Hollywood Reporter and most of Canada's daily newspapers.He hosts the popular environmental podcast, Skaana. Show less «

[on what encouraged him to read] When I was in high school, I had a crush that ruled my world. I sch...Show more »

[on what encouraged him to read] When I was in high school, I had a crush that ruled my world. I scheduled my life so I'd have a chance at bumping into the girl of my dreams. I took advanced-credit summer school courses in subjects I barely understood because she was a grade ahead of me. And when I saw her reading a thin paperback with a shiny red cover, I had to ask her what it was. She told me about 'Ice-Nine' and the end of the world, before finishing with, 'It's funny. You'll like it'. Then she walked off to meet her Neanderthal date du jour. I only got the book out of the library so I could it discuss it with her. I devoured it in one night. The next day I went to the school library and took out every Kurt Vonnegut book they had. Show less «

I thought writing was about showing off your vocabulary. The stories I wrote in Grade 8 had more syl...Show more »

I thought writing was about showing off your vocabulary. The stories I wrote in Grade 8 had more syllables in each word than the entire paragraph. 'Cat's Cradle' was responsible for me becoming a writer. Iy was also responsible for me losing my A in Grade 10 English because my teacher declared all my post-Vonnegut writing 'too creative'. Show less «

[as a teenager getting into the job market] I worked in the malls at Christmas, but I wasn't allowed...Show more »

[as a teenager getting into the job market] I worked in the malls at Christmas, but I wasn't allowed to be an elf because I was too tall. Santa was out of the question because I was too thin, so I was always stuck in the reindeer costume. But I actually loved it because the reindeer wasn't allowed to talk, it just had to be cute. Show less «

There's no logical explanation for it, but people love to beat up chickens. I have one word of advic...Show more »

There's no logical explanation for it, but people love to beat up chickens. I have one word of advice for aspiring costumed entertainers: Don't dress up as poultry. Show less «

Mark Leiren-Young

Mark Leiren-Young's FILMOGRAPHY

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