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{{Infobox person
'''Mark Leiren-Young''' (born 1962) is a [[Canada|Canadian]] journalist, screenwriter, [[playwright]] and occasional performer in the comedy duo Local Anxiety. He lives in [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]].
| name = Mark Leiren-Young
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|09|04}}
| birth_place = [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]], Canada
| nationality = Canadian
| education = Masters Degree in Creative Writing - University of British Columbia
| occupation = Playwright, author, filmmaker, director, performer, satirist, podcaster, activist
| years_active = 1985–present
| notable_works = ''The Killer Whale Who Changed the World'', ''Never Shoot a Stampede Queen'', ''The Green Chain'', ''[[Shylock (play)|Shylock]]'', ''Orcas Everywhere''
| spouse = Rayne Ellycrys Benu
| awards = [[Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour]]
| website = {{URL|http://leiren-young.com/}}
}}
'''Mark Leiren-Young''' (born September 4, 1962) is a [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[playwright]], author, journalist, screenwriter, filmmaker, and performer. He lives in [[Saanich, British Columbia]] and is married to Rayne Ellycrys Benu.


==Writing==
==Early life==
Mark Leiren-Young was born in [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]]. He spent two years at the [[University of British Columbia]] where he wrote extensively for [[The Ubyssey]] student newspaper. His first stage play, "The Initiation," which he wrote and directed while a UBC student, is the subject of his comic memoir "Free Magic Secrets Revealed." He completed his [[Bachelor of Fine Arts]] in Theatre and Creative Writing at the [[University of Victoria]] and graduated with distinction in 1985.<ref>[http://finearts.uvic.ca/writing/faculty/leiren-young/ "Mark Leiren-Young"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529034136/http://finearts.uvic.ca/writing/faculty/leiren-young/ |date=2015-05-29 }}. University of Victoria, 2015.</ref> Leiren-Young's first full-time journalism job was at ''The Williams Lake Tribune'', a newspaper in [[Williams Lake, British Columbia]]. He left Williams Lake to write and direct "Exposé: Sometimes the World's Fair, Sometimes it Ain't" a comedy revue about [[Expo 86]] that played for several months at Vancouver's Firehall Theatre (now the Firehalls Arts Centre), and the 1 act play "Escape From Fantasy Gardens", a play about then Premier [[Bill VanDerZalm]].<ref>[http://leiren-young.com/stampedequeen/about-the-play/about-mark-leiren-young/mark-leiren-young-biography/ "Mark Leiren-Young Biography"]. Stampede Queen, 2012.</ref>
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Mark leirenyoung.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Mark Leiren-Young]] -->
Mark Leiren-Young's first full-time journalism job was at "The Williams Lake Tribune," a small newspaper in [[Williams Lake, British Columbia]]. Twenty years later, he turned these experiences into a comic memoir, [http://stampedequeen.ca/ Never Shoot A Stampede Queen], which won the 2009 [[Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour]].<ref>[http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090430.wbkLeacock01/BNStory/globebooks/home "Mark Leiren-Young wins Leacock Medal for humour"]. ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', April 30, 2009.</ref> Mark has recently adapted the memoir for stage, where it's receiving its world premiere with the [[Western Canada Theatre]] company in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.
His news and feature writing, humour pieces, reviews, and columns have appeared in a host of publications in Canada and the U.S., including ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', ''[[Maclean's]]'' and ''[[The Utne Reader]]''. He's a contributor to ''[[The Georgia Straight]],'' where he has written since the mid-1980s. He has covered the [[Toronto International Film Festival]] for the Georgia Straight for the past ten years. His celebrity interviews can be found at the [http://www.straight.com/archives/contributor/349 Georgia Straight Online], detailing a range of celebrities from [[William Shatner]] to [[Salman Rushdie]] and including such A-Listers as [[Emily Blunt]], [[Michael Cera]], and [[Terry Gilliam]].


==Career==
Mark is a passionate environmentalist. As a columnist and podcaster for Vancouver's independent online news site ''[[The Tyee]],'' he often addresses issues facing British Columbia's old growth forests. His Tyee interviews provided the content for his 2009 book, "[http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Green-Chain-Nothing-Ever-Clear-Mark-Leiren-Young/9781894974899-item.html?ref=Search+Books%3a+%2527Mark+Leiren-young%2527 The Green Chain: Nothing Is Ever Clear Cut]," which examines the logging industry. Described by The National Post as “Canada’s go to guy for dolphins, whales and trees,” Mark has also been dubbed "Canada’s greenest writer." Many of his projects feature a green theme, such as his award winning short film, The Green Film, and his feature-length movie, "The Green Chain," which has won awards internationally at film festivals. As one half of the comedy duo, [http://www.localanxiety.com "Local Anxiety"] with [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0998863/ Kevin Crofton], he released the 2009 CD "Greenpieces," and cuts from the satirical album are often featured on [[CBC Radio]]. He also coauthored “This Crazy Time Living our Environmental Challenge” with controversial Canadian Environmentalist Tzeporah Berman.
Mark also has extensive television writing credits, with over 100 hours of produced work. His love of comic books inspires his work on a number of animated series, including [[ReBoot]] and [[Beast Wars: Transformers]]. He also has many credits writing for drama series, and credits include [[PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal]] and [[Blood Ties (TV series)|Blood Ties]].


===Film and television===
Before writing for T.V., Mark was a widely produced playwright. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre and creative writing from the [[University of Victoria]], and his plays have been produced in Canada, the U.S., Europe and Australia. He has also been translated into French and Danish. He's best known for controversial work such as the teen drama "Basically Good Kids" and "Jim," about the life of Doors frontman Jim Morrison. His mainstage work includes "Articles of Faith" about the Anglican church's internal struggle over the issue of gay marriage, and the award-winning [[Shylock (play)]], about the tensions surrounding theatre's most famous Jewish character. ''Shylock'' has been produced around the world and was published by Anvil Press in 1996.
Leiren-Young's documentary, "The Hundred-Year-Old Whale" (2017), which he wrote and directed, won the 2017 Writers Guild of Canada award for "best documentary." The movie explores the life of [[Granny (orca)]] and the history of our relationship with the [[Southern resident killer whales]]. [https://www.wgc.ca/screenwriters/awards] Leiren-Young's first feature film, ''The Green Chain'' (2007), which he wrote, directed and produced, explores the issues facing dying logging communities in [[British Columbia]]. The movie won the El Prat de Llobregat Award at the 15th Annual Festival Internacional de Cinema de Medi Ambient (FICMA 2008) in Barcelona.<ref>[https://www.straight.com/article-149191/mark-leirenyoung-honoured-barcelona-film-festival "Mark Leiren-Young honoured at Barcelona film festival"]. ''[[The Georgia Straight]]'', June 10, 2008.</ref> Leiren-Young also has extensive television writing credits, with over 100 hours of produced work.
His love of comic books inspired his work on a number of animated series, including a [[ReBoot]] episode parodying [[The X-Files]] (details of which were featured in ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'') and [[Beast Wars: Transformers]].<ref>[http://simple-movie.com/actor/mark-leiren-young_121576/ "Mark Leiren-Young Biography"]. Simple Movie, 2009.</ref>
He has written for numerous TV shows including ''[[PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal]]'' and ''[[Blood Ties (TV series)|Blood Ties]]''.


==Books==
===Theatre===
Leiren-Young's plays have been produced in [[Canada]], the [[United States]], [[Europe]], and [[Australia]]. His work has been translated into French, Czech and Danish. In 2017 his play ''Bar Mitzvah Boy'' was the winner of the Jewish Playwriting Contest of the Jewish Plays Project. The play has been produced in Canada and the U.S. and is being published in 2020 by Playwright's Canada Press. His award-winning ''[[Shylock (play)|Shylock]]'' (Anvil Press, 1996), about the tensions surrounding theatre's most famous Jewish character. ''Shylock'' has been produced around the world.
*[http://stampedequeen.ca''Never Shoot A Stampede Queen''] - 2009
Leiren-Young frequently collaborated with director [[John Juliani]]. The work they developed together included ''Articles of Faith'' (Anvil Press, 2001), about the Anglican church's internal struggle over the issue of same sex marriage and Leiren-Young's 1991 radio drama, ''Dim Sum Diaries'', which received international recognition when it debuted on [[CBC Radio]]'s ''[[Morningside (radio program)|Morningside]]''.
*[http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Green-Chain-Nothing-Ever-Clear-Mark-Leiren-Young/9781894974899-item.html?ref=Search+Books%3a+%2527Mark+Leiren-young%2527 ''The Green Chain: Nothing is Ever Clear Cut''] - 2009
Leiren-Young has frequently written for and about young audiences. His [[Theatre for Young Audiences]] scripts include ''Basically Good Kids'' (about teens caught up in a riot) and ''Jim'' (a solo show about a teen runaway obsessed with [[The Doors]] frontman [[Jim Morrison]]).


==Film==
===Memoirs===
Twenty years after his stint at ''The Williams Lake Tribune'', Leiren-Young turned his experiences into a comic memoir, ''Never Shoot A Stampede Queen'' (Heritage House, 2009), which won the 2009 [[Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour]].<ref>[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/leiren-young-wins-leacock-medal/article1196987/ "Leiren-Young wins Leacock Medal"]. ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', April 30, 2009.</ref> Leiren-Young adapted the memoir for stage, where it received its world premiere with the [[Western Canada Theatre]] company in [[Kamloops]], [[British Columbia]], Canada in 2013.<ref>[http://leiren-young.com/?page_id=2 "About Mark Leiren-Young"]. Mark Leiren-Young Official Site, 2015.</ref> A second production debuted at [[Vancouver]]'s Granville Island Stage in May, 2013. The book was adapted for the stage by Leiren-Young and directed and dramaturged by [[TJ Dawe]].
Leiren-Young's first feature film, ''The Green Chain'', which he wrote, directed and produced, explores the issues facing dying logging communities in [[British Columbia]]. The movie won the El Prat de Llobregat Award at the 15th Annual Festival Internacional de Cinema de Medi Ambient (FICMA 2008) in Barcelona.<ref>[http://www.ficma.com/ENG/awards08.html FICMA Awards 2008]</ref>
His latest memoir, ''Free Magic Secrets Revealed'' ([[Harbour Publishing]], 2013), tells the story of his high school misadventures staging a disastrous magic show.
*[http://www.thegreenchain.com The Green Chain] - Writer/Director/Producer
Leiren-Young is currently adapting both memoirs for film.


==Television==
===Journalism===
Leiren-Young's news and feature writing, humour pieces, reviews, and columns have appeared in a host of publications in [[Canada]] and the [[United States]], including ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', ''[[Maclean's]]'', and ''[[The Utne Reader]]''. He writes a theatre column for ''[[The Vancouver Sun]]''.<ref>[http://news.nationalpost.com/arts/books/mr-dress-up-mark-leiren-young-chronicles-his-days-in-costume "Mr. Dress-Up: Mark Leiren-Young chronicles his days in costume"]. ''[[The National Post]]'', June 3, 2013.</ref> He's a contributor to ''[[The Georgia Straight]]'', where he has written since the mid-1980s. He has covered the [[Toronto International Film Festival]] for ''[[The Georgia Straight]]'' for the past ten years. In the fall of 2014, Leiren-Young was appointed editor of ''Reel West Magazine'', a publication focused on the Western Canadian film industry.<ref>[http://www.mastheadonline.com/news/reel_west_magazine_appoints_mark_leirenyoung_as_editor/ "Reel West magazine appoints Mark Leiren-Young as editor"]. ''Masthead Online'', October 7, 2014.</ref> Leiren-Young also became the [[University of Victoria]]'s 2014 Harvey Stevenson Southam Lecturer in Journalism and Nonfiction for the Department of Writing, the first alumnus to hold this position.<ref>[http://finearts.uvic.ca/blog/?p=4258 "Funny Writing Secrets Revealed"]. [[University of Victoria]], August 28, 2014.</ref>
*RollBots (TV series) – writer, (2009)

*The Green Film (short) – writer, (2008)
===Environmentalism===
*Blood Ties (Lifetime series) - Story editor and writer, (2007)
Leiren-Young is a passionate [[environmentalist]]. He hosts the Skaana podcast where he interviews experts like [[Paul Watson]], [[David Suzuki]] and [[Elizabeth May]] about orcas, oceans and the environment.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.skaana.org/ |title=Home |website=skaana.org}}</ref> He has written and spoken about how Canada's [[Trans Mountain Pipeline]] could lead to the extinction of the endangered [[Southern resident killer whales]].<ref>{{cite AV media| url-status = live| archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/8nz9slq-mIs| archive-date = 2021-12-11| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nz9slq-mIs| title = How Much is a Whale Worth? | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
*The Green Chain – written by, (2007)
He hosted a podcast for Vancouver's independent online news site ''[[The Tyee]]'', where he often addressed issues facing [[British Columbia]]'s old growth forests. His Tyee interviews provided the content for his book, ''The Green Chain: Nothing Is Ever Clear Cut'' (Heritage House, 2009), which examines the logging industry. Described by the [[National Post]] as "Canada's go to guy for dolphins, whales and trees", Leiren-Young has also been dubbed "Canada's greenest writer".
Many of his projects feature a [[sustainability]] theme, such as his award-winning short film, ''The Green Film'', and his feature-length movie, ''The Green Chain'', which stars [[Tricia Helfer]].
As half of the comedy duo, "Local Anxiety" with Kevin Crofton, Leiren-Young wrote and co-starred in the EarthVision award-winning TV special, ''Greenpieces: The World's First Eco-Comedy''. He released the 2009 CD ''Greenpieces'', and cuts from the satirical album are often featured on [[CBC Radio]]. He also coauthored ''This Crazy Time: Living our Environmental Challenge'' (Knopf Canada, 2012) with controversial Canadian environmentalist, [[Tzeporah Berman]]. In 2012, Leiren-Young debuted ''Greener Than Thou'', a comic, autobiographical monologue detailing the journey of "going green".

===Moby Doll===
In October 2014, Leiren-Young wrote the article "[https://thewalrus.ca/moby-doll/ Moby Doll]" for ''[[The Walrus]]''. The Walrus feature tells the story of the first killer whale displayed in captivity, [[Moby Doll]], who was harpooned in the summer of 1964 off the coast of [[British Columbia]]'s [[Saturna Island]]. [[Moby Doll]] survived just eighty-seven days in a waterfront pen but, during that time, changed the world's attitude towards orcas. [[The Walrus]] article was a finalist for the 2015 [[National Magazine Awards]].
Leiren-Young wrote ''Moby Doll: The Whale that Changed the World'', which aired as a radio broadcast November 7, 2014 on [[CBC Radio]]'s ''[[Ideas (radio show)|Ideas]]'' with [[Paul Kennedy (host)|Paul Kennedy]]. The documentary won the 2014 [[Jack Webster Award]] for Best Feature Story in radio for the broadcast.
In 2016, the book ''The Killer Whale Who Changed the World'' was published. It spent four weeks on the [[Maclean's]] bestseller list and was long-listed for the 2017 [[RBC Taylor Prize]], and short-listed for the Hubert Evans Prize. It was the winner of the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada award for the best "general interest" book.

A feature-length film documentary of ''The Killer Whale Who Changed the World'' is currently in post-production (2020). The movie is set to be distributed by Kinosmith (the Canadian distributors of ''Blackfish'').<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://leiren-young.com/orcaholic/|title=Orcaholic - MLY|website=leiren-young.com|language=en-US|access-date=2017-02-14}}</ref>

===Awards===
Leiren-Young won the 2017 Writers Guild of Canada Award for Best Documentary for his movie, [https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thehundredyearoldwhale "The Hundred-Year-Old Whale."] He has received three other [[Writers Guild of Canada]] nominations for his work in radio and film. He received the 2017 Bron Iris Award in 2017 for his "commitment to the promotion of female creators" in film and television.
He won the 2009 [[Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour]] for his comic memoir, "Never Shoot a Stampede Queen." Leiren-Young was the 1993 recipient of a National Magazine award for his ''Theatrum'' column and has received two [[Western Magazine Awards]], the latest presented in 2013.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1018375/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm "Mark Leiren-Young Biography"]. The [[Internet Movie Database]], 1990-2015.</ref>

==Credits==

===Books by Mark Leiren-Young===
*''Never Shoot A Stampede Queen'' - 2009
*''The Green Chain: Nothing is Ever Clear Cut'' - 2009
* ''This Crazy Time: Living our environmental challeng'' - 2011
*''Free Magic Secrets Revealed'' - 2013
*''The Killer Whale Who Changed the World'' - 2016
*''Orcas Everywhere'' - 2019
*''Big Whales, Small World'' - 2020
*''Orcas of the Salish Sea'' - 2020
*''Bar Mitzvah Boy'' - 2020
*''Sharks Forever'' - 2022
*''Big Sharks, Small World'' - 2022

===Film===
*''The Green Chain'' (2007, feature) - Writer/Director/Producer
*''The Hundred-Year-Old Whale'' (2017, short) - Writer/Director/Producer
*''The Green Film'' (short) – writer, (2008)

===Television===
*[[ReBoot: The Guardian Code]] (TV series) - writer,
*[[RollBots]] (TV series) – writer, (200
*[[Blood Ties (TV series)|Blood Ties]] (Lifetime series) - Story editor and writer, (2007)
*Pucca (TV series) – writer, (2007)
*Pucca (TV series) – writer, (2007)
*Class of the Titans (TV series) – writer, (2007)
*[[Class of the Titans]] (TV series) – writer, (2007)
*The Collector - scriptwriter, (2006)
*[[The Collector (Canadian TV series)|The Collector (TV series)]] - writer, (2006)
*Ace Lightning (TV series) – writer, (2002-2004)
*[[Ace Lightning]] (TV series) – writer, (2002-2004)
*The Great Canadian Music Dream (CBC miniseries) - scriptwriter, (2003)
*The Great Canadian Music Dream (CBC miniseries) - writer, (2003)
*Mentors (TV series) - writer, (2001)
*Mentors (TV series) - writer, (2001)
*Psi Factor - scriptwriter, (2000)
*[[Psi Factor]] - writer, (2000)
*Life and Times: The Brian Orser Story - scriptwriter, (2000)
*Life and Times: The Brian Orser Story - writer, (2000)
*Greenpieces (TV special short), (2000)
*Greenpieces (TV special short), (2000)
*Grand Illusions: The Story of Magic (TV series), (1998)
*Grand Illusions: The Story of Magic (TV series), (1998)
*The 27th Annual Juno Awards – (1998)
*The 27th Annual Juno Awards – (1998)
*Beasties (TV series) – writer, (1997)
*[[Transformers: Beast Wars]] (TV series) – writer, (1997)
*Reboot - scriptwriter, (1996)
*[[ReBoot]] - writer, (1996)
*Jonovision (CBC) - scriptwriter, (1996)
*[[Jonovision]] (CBC) - writer, (1996)

==Theatre==
His plays have been produced throughout Canada, the U.S., Europe and Australia. His works include:


===Theatre===
*''Bar Mitzvah Boy'' - 2017
*''Never Shoot a Stampede Queen'' - 2013
*''Articles of Faith'' - 2001
*''Articles of Faith'' - 2001
*''Easy Money'' – 1999
*''If You Really Love Me...'' - 2000
*''If You Really Love Me...'' - 2000
*''Shylock'' - 1996
*''[[Shylock (play)|Shylock]]'' - 1996
*''Basically Good Kids'' - 1993
*''Basically Good Kids'' - 1993
*''Blueprints From Space'' - 1993
*''Blueprints From Space'' - 1993
*''Dim Sum Diaries'' – 1991
*''Jim'' - 1990
*''Escape from Fantasy Gardens'' - 1989
*''Escape from Fantasy Gardens'' - 1989
*''Watchin`'' - 1986
*''Watchin`'' - 1986


==Music==
===Music===
*[http://www.localanxiety.com/''Greenpieces''] - Local Anxiety - 2009
*''Greenpieces'' - Local Anxiety - 2009
*[http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/localanxiety''Hockey Nut in Canada''] - Local Anxiety - 2007
*''Hockey Nut in Canada'' - Local Anxiety - 2007
*[http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/localanxiety''Forgive Us - We're Canadian''] - Local Anxiety - 2003
*''Forgive Us - We're Canadian'' - Local Anxiety - 2003
*''Is Nothing Sacred?'' Local Anxiety - 1992


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==External links==
{{Authority control|VIAF=26312271}}
* {{official website|http://leiren-young.com/}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
* {{IMDb name|1018375}}
| NAME = Leiren-Young, Mark
* [http://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Leiren-Young%2C%20Mark Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia entry]
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =

| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
{{Authority control}}
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1962

| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leiren-Young, Mark}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leiren-Young, Mark}}
[[Category:Canadian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Canadian humorists]]
[[Category:Writers from Vancouver]]
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Burnaby]]
[[Category:Stephen Leacock Award winners]]
[[Category:Stephen Leacock Award winners]]
[[Category:Canadian male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Writers from Vancouver]]
[[Category:Writers from Victoria, British Columbia]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian male writers]]
[[Category:Jack Webster award recipients]]

Latest revision as of 05:10, 12 August 2024

Mark Leiren-Young
Born (1962-09-04) September 4, 1962 (age 62)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
NationalityCanadian
EducationMasters Degree in Creative Writing - University of British Columbia
Occupation(s)Playwright, author, filmmaker, director, performer, satirist, podcaster, activist
Years active1985–present
Notable workThe Killer Whale Who Changed the World, Never Shoot a Stampede Queen, The Green Chain, Shylock, Orcas Everywhere
SpouseRayne Ellycrys Benu
AwardsStephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour
Websiteleiren-young.com

Mark Leiren-Young (born September 4, 1962) is a Canadian playwright, author, journalist, screenwriter, filmmaker, and performer. He lives in Saanich, British Columbia and is married to Rayne Ellycrys Benu.

Early life

[edit]

Mark Leiren-Young was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He spent two years at the University of British Columbia where he wrote extensively for The Ubyssey student newspaper. His first stage play, "The Initiation," which he wrote and directed while a UBC student, is the subject of his comic memoir "Free Magic Secrets Revealed." He completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre and Creative Writing at the University of Victoria and graduated with distinction in 1985.[1] Leiren-Young's first full-time journalism job was at The Williams Lake Tribune, a newspaper in Williams Lake, British Columbia. He left Williams Lake to write and direct "Exposé: Sometimes the World's Fair, Sometimes it Ain't" a comedy revue about Expo 86 that played for several months at Vancouver's Firehall Theatre (now the Firehalls Arts Centre), and the 1 act play "Escape From Fantasy Gardens", a play about then Premier Bill VanDerZalm.[2]

Career

[edit]

Film and television

[edit]

Leiren-Young's documentary, "The Hundred-Year-Old Whale" (2017), which he wrote and directed, won the 2017 Writers Guild of Canada award for "best documentary." The movie explores the life of Granny (orca) and the history of our relationship with the Southern resident killer whales. [1] Leiren-Young's first feature film, The Green Chain (2007), which he wrote, directed and produced, explores the issues facing dying logging communities in British Columbia. The movie won the El Prat de Llobregat Award at the 15th Annual Festival Internacional de Cinema de Medi Ambient (FICMA 2008) in Barcelona.[3] Leiren-Young also has extensive television writing credits, with over 100 hours of produced work. His love of comic books inspired his work on a number of animated series, including a ReBoot episode parodying The X-Files (details of which were featured in Entertainment Weekly) and Beast Wars: Transformers.[4] He has written for numerous TV shows including PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal and Blood Ties.

Theatre

[edit]

Leiren-Young's plays have been produced in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Australia. His work has been translated into French, Czech and Danish. In 2017 his play Bar Mitzvah Boy was the winner of the Jewish Playwriting Contest of the Jewish Plays Project. The play has been produced in Canada and the U.S. and is being published in 2020 by Playwright's Canada Press. His award-winning Shylock (Anvil Press, 1996), about the tensions surrounding theatre's most famous Jewish character. Shylock has been produced around the world. Leiren-Young frequently collaborated with director John Juliani. The work they developed together included Articles of Faith (Anvil Press, 2001), about the Anglican church's internal struggle over the issue of same sex marriage and Leiren-Young's 1991 radio drama, Dim Sum Diaries, which received international recognition when it debuted on CBC Radio's Morningside. Leiren-Young has frequently written for and about young audiences. His Theatre for Young Audiences scripts include Basically Good Kids (about teens caught up in a riot) and Jim (a solo show about a teen runaway obsessed with The Doors frontman Jim Morrison).

Memoirs

[edit]

Twenty years after his stint at The Williams Lake Tribune, Leiren-Young turned his experiences into a comic memoir, Never Shoot A Stampede Queen (Heritage House, 2009), which won the 2009 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.[5] Leiren-Young adapted the memoir for stage, where it received its world premiere with the Western Canada Theatre company in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada in 2013.[6] A second production debuted at Vancouver's Granville Island Stage in May, 2013. The book was adapted for the stage by Leiren-Young and directed and dramaturged by TJ Dawe. His latest memoir, Free Magic Secrets Revealed (Harbour Publishing, 2013), tells the story of his high school misadventures staging a disastrous magic show. Leiren-Young is currently adapting both memoirs for film.

Journalism

[edit]

Leiren-Young's news and feature writing, humour pieces, reviews, and columns have appeared in a host of publications in Canada and the United States, including Time, Maclean's, and The Utne Reader. He writes a theatre column for The Vancouver Sun.[7] He's a contributor to The Georgia Straight, where he has written since the mid-1980s. He has covered the Toronto International Film Festival for The Georgia Straight for the past ten years. In the fall of 2014, Leiren-Young was appointed editor of Reel West Magazine, a publication focused on the Western Canadian film industry.[8] Leiren-Young also became the University of Victoria's 2014 Harvey Stevenson Southam Lecturer in Journalism and Nonfiction for the Department of Writing, the first alumnus to hold this position.[9]

Environmentalism

[edit]

Leiren-Young is a passionate environmentalist. He hosts the Skaana podcast where he interviews experts like Paul Watson, David Suzuki and Elizabeth May about orcas, oceans and the environment.[10] He has written and spoken about how Canada's Trans Mountain Pipeline could lead to the extinction of the endangered Southern resident killer whales.[11] He hosted a podcast for Vancouver's independent online news site The Tyee, where he often addressed issues facing British Columbia's old growth forests. His Tyee interviews provided the content for his book, The Green Chain: Nothing Is Ever Clear Cut (Heritage House, 2009), which examines the logging industry. Described by the National Post as "Canada's go to guy for dolphins, whales and trees", Leiren-Young has also been dubbed "Canada's greenest writer". Many of his projects feature a sustainability theme, such as his award-winning short film, The Green Film, and his feature-length movie, The Green Chain, which stars Tricia Helfer. As half of the comedy duo, "Local Anxiety" with Kevin Crofton, Leiren-Young wrote and co-starred in the EarthVision award-winning TV special, Greenpieces: The World's First Eco-Comedy. He released the 2009 CD Greenpieces, and cuts from the satirical album are often featured on CBC Radio. He also coauthored This Crazy Time: Living our Environmental Challenge (Knopf Canada, 2012) with controversial Canadian environmentalist, Tzeporah Berman. In 2012, Leiren-Young debuted Greener Than Thou, a comic, autobiographical monologue detailing the journey of "going green".

Moby Doll

[edit]

In October 2014, Leiren-Young wrote the article "Moby Doll" for The Walrus. The Walrus feature tells the story of the first killer whale displayed in captivity, Moby Doll, who was harpooned in the summer of 1964 off the coast of British Columbia's Saturna Island. Moby Doll survived just eighty-seven days in a waterfront pen but, during that time, changed the world's attitude towards orcas. The Walrus article was a finalist for the 2015 National Magazine Awards. Leiren-Young wrote Moby Doll: The Whale that Changed the World, which aired as a radio broadcast November 7, 2014 on CBC Radio's Ideas with Paul Kennedy. The documentary won the 2014 Jack Webster Award for Best Feature Story in radio for the broadcast. In 2016, the book The Killer Whale Who Changed the World was published. It spent four weeks on the Maclean's bestseller list and was long-listed for the 2017 RBC Taylor Prize, and short-listed for the Hubert Evans Prize. It was the winner of the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada award for the best "general interest" book.

A feature-length film documentary of The Killer Whale Who Changed the World is currently in post-production (2020). The movie is set to be distributed by Kinosmith (the Canadian distributors of Blackfish).[12]

Awards

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Leiren-Young won the 2017 Writers Guild of Canada Award for Best Documentary for his movie, "The Hundred-Year-Old Whale." He has received three other Writers Guild of Canada nominations for his work in radio and film. He received the 2017 Bron Iris Award in 2017 for his "commitment to the promotion of female creators" in film and television. He won the 2009 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour for his comic memoir, "Never Shoot a Stampede Queen." Leiren-Young was the 1993 recipient of a National Magazine award for his Theatrum column and has received two Western Magazine Awards, the latest presented in 2013.[13]

Credits

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Books by Mark Leiren-Young

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  • Never Shoot A Stampede Queen - 2009
  • The Green Chain: Nothing is Ever Clear Cut - 2009
  • This Crazy Time: Living our environmental challeng - 2011
  • Free Magic Secrets Revealed - 2013
  • The Killer Whale Who Changed the World - 2016
  • Orcas Everywhere - 2019
  • Big Whales, Small World - 2020
  • Orcas of the Salish Sea - 2020
  • Bar Mitzvah Boy - 2020
  • Sharks Forever - 2022
  • Big Sharks, Small World - 2022

Film

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  • The Green Chain (2007, feature) - Writer/Director/Producer
  • The Hundred-Year-Old Whale (2017, short) - Writer/Director/Producer
  • The Green Film (short) – writer, (2008)

Television

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  • ReBoot: The Guardian Code (TV series) - writer,
  • RollBots (TV series) – writer, (200
  • Blood Ties (Lifetime series) - Story editor and writer, (2007)
  • Pucca (TV series) – writer, (2007)
  • Class of the Titans (TV series) – writer, (2007)
  • The Collector (TV series) - writer, (2006)
  • Ace Lightning (TV series) – writer, (2002-2004)
  • The Great Canadian Music Dream (CBC miniseries) - writer, (2003)
  • Mentors (TV series) - writer, (2001)
  • Psi Factor - writer, (2000)
  • Life and Times: The Brian Orser Story - writer, (2000)
  • Greenpieces (TV special short), (2000)
  • Grand Illusions: The Story of Magic (TV series), (1998)
  • The 27th Annual Juno Awards – (1998)
  • Transformers: Beast Wars (TV series) – writer, (1997)
  • ReBoot - writer, (1996)
  • Jonovision (CBC) - writer, (1996)

Theatre

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  • Bar Mitzvah Boy - 2017
  • Never Shoot a Stampede Queen - 2013
  • Articles of Faith - 2001
  • Easy Money – 1999
  • If You Really Love Me... - 2000
  • Shylock - 1996
  • Basically Good Kids - 1993
  • Blueprints From Space - 1993
  • Dim Sum Diaries – 1991
  • Jim - 1990
  • Escape from Fantasy Gardens - 1989
  • Watchin` - 1986

Music

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  • Greenpieces - Local Anxiety - 2009
  • Hockey Nut in Canada - Local Anxiety - 2007
  • Forgive Us - We're Canadian - Local Anxiety - 2003
  • Is Nothing Sacred? Local Anxiety - 1992

References

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  1. ^ "Mark Leiren-Young" Archived 2015-05-29 at the Wayback Machine. University of Victoria, 2015.
  2. ^ "Mark Leiren-Young Biography". Stampede Queen, 2012.
  3. ^ "Mark Leiren-Young honoured at Barcelona film festival". The Georgia Straight, June 10, 2008.
  4. ^ "Mark Leiren-Young Biography". Simple Movie, 2009.
  5. ^ "Leiren-Young wins Leacock Medal". The Globe and Mail, April 30, 2009.
  6. ^ "About Mark Leiren-Young". Mark Leiren-Young Official Site, 2015.
  7. ^ "Mr. Dress-Up: Mark Leiren-Young chronicles his days in costume". The National Post, June 3, 2013.
  8. ^ "Reel West magazine appoints Mark Leiren-Young as editor". Masthead Online, October 7, 2014.
  9. ^ "Funny Writing Secrets Revealed". University of Victoria, August 28, 2014.
  10. ^ "Home". skaana.org.
  11. ^ How Much is a Whale Worth?. YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-11.
  12. ^ "Orcaholic - MLY". leiren-young.com. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  13. ^ "Mark Leiren-Young Biography". The Internet Movie Database, 1990-2015.
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