Leah McKendrick (born ) is an American film director, screenwriter, actress, and singer. She is best known for writing and acting in the films ''M.F.A.'' (2017) and ''Scrambled'' (2023).

Early life

McKendrick was born and raised in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. While studying at

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California, United States. Encompassing eleven colleges, the university is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". The school maintains its foundi ...

she wrote, produced, directed, and acted in a number of short films and stage plays and graduated in 2008 with a BFA in theatre performance.

Career

In 2014, McKendrick wrote, produced and starred in the pop musical web series ''Destroy the Alpha Gammas''. The series was critically acclaimed, and she was made a

Webby Award The Webby Awards (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts a ...

honoree and received a

Streamy Award The YouTube Streamy Awards, also known as the Streamy Awards or Streamys, are an awards show presented annually by Dick Clark Productions and Tubefilter to recognize excellence in online video, including directing, acting, producing, and wri ...

nomination. In 2017, she wrote, produced and co-starred in her feature debut, '' M.F.A.'', which premiered at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

. In 2019, she was hired to write

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

’s ''Grease'' prequel, ''Summer Lovin','' which was later cancelled. In 2020, she wrote, directed and starred in the short film ''Pamela & Ivy'', a feminist origin story for the supervillain

Poison Ivy Poison ivy is a type of allergenic plant in the genus '' Toxicodendron'' native to Asia and North America. Formerly considered a single species, '' Toxicodendron radicans'', poison ivies are now generally treated as a complex of three separate s ...

. The film premiered on

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...

. The film was a Webby Award honoree for best writing. In 2022, McKendrick wrote, directed and starred in the feature film '' Scrambled'', about a broke, single 34-year-old woman that decides to freeze her eggs following a breakup. The film was based on her own experience with egg-retrieval in 2021. The film premiered at

in March 2023 and was released theatrically by

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

in 2024. She was named one of IndieWire's "28 Rising Female Filmmakers to Watch" in 2023.

Upcoming projects

In February 2023, it was announced that McKendrick was writing a

legacy sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to the 1997 slasher ''

I Know What You Did Last Summer ''I Know What You Did Last Summer'' is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Jim Gillespie and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, and Freddie Prinze Jr., with supporting ro ...

'' for

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

. McKendrick is writing the upcoming holiday-comedy film ''Mrs. Claus'' for

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

; The film will star

Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Company ...

and will be produced by

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Reese Witherspoon, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Aw ...

and Lauren Neustadter for Hello Sunshine. McKendrick is also set to write and direct an untitled monster project for

Atomic Monster Atomic Monster is an American film and television production company, founded in 2014 by James Wan. The company has produced ''The Conjuring'' Universe, ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Malignant'' and '' M3GAN''. Overview James Wan founded Atomic Monster ...

and

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

James Wan James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is an Australian filmmaker. He has primarily worked in the horror fiction, horror genre as the co-creator of the ''Saw (franchise), Saw'' and Insidious (film series), ''Insidious'' franchises and the creator of ...

and Michael Clear will produce the project with Judson Scott executive producing. Alayna Glasthal will oversee the project for Atomic Monster.

Select filmography

Actress

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKendrick, Leah Living people American women film directors Film directors from California American women screenwriters Screenwriters from California 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women writers Year of birth missing (living people)