Leila Basen (born 1955) is a Canadian film and television writer and producer, most noted as one of the writers of the 2006 comedy film '' Bon Cop, Bad Cop''. A graduate of

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

, she began her career as a writer for the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

sitcoms ''

King of Kensington ''King of Kensington'' is a Canadian television sitcom that aired on CBC Television from 1975 to 1980.Mary Jane Miller, ''Turn Up the Contrast: CBC Television Drama since 1952''. UBC Press, 2011. . pp. 134-144. Synopsis Al Waxman starred as Larry ...

'' and ''

Hangin' In ''Hangin' In'' is a Canadian television sitcom that aired on CBC from 1981 to 1987. It aired briefly on Nickelodeon and in syndication in the United States. Synopsis The show starred Lally Cadeau as Kate Brown, the attractive and charismatic ...

''."TV scripts earn living for `housewife'". ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', September 8, 1991. She later wrote the screenplays for films such as '' Your Ticket Is No Longer Valid'' and ''

Killing 'em Softly ''Killing em Softly'' is a 1982 Canadian thriller film directed by Max Fischer, starring Irene Cara, George Segal, Clark Johnson and Nicholas Campbell."Max Fischer's 'The Man in 5A'". ''Cinema Canada'', September 1983. It is most noted for produc ...

''. balancing her writing career with her family life with theatre director Alexander Hausvater. She was predominantly a television writer thereafter, writing scripts for series such as ''

Urban Angel ''Urban Angel'' is a Canadian television drama series, which aired on CBC Television from 1991 to 1993.

'', ''

Max Glick ''Max Glick'' is a Canadian television comedy-drama series, which aired on CBC Television from 1990 to 1991. Based on the Morley Torgov novel '' The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick'' and its 1988 film adaptation, the series centred on Maximilia ...

'', '' Street Legal'', ''

Road to Avonlea ''Road to Avonlea'' is a Canadian television series first broadcast in Canada between January 7, 1990, and March 31, 1996, as part of the '' CBC Family Hour'' anthology series, and in the United States starting on March 5, 1990. It was created ...

'', ''

African Skies ''African Skies'' is an adventure drama series that aired from October 11, 1992, until April 24, 1994, on The Family Channel. It starred Catherine Bach and Robert Mitchum. It was shot in Kenya, Zimbabwe and then in South Africa. Plot summa ...

'', ''

Bob and Margaret ''Bob and Margaret'' is an adult animated sitcom created by David Fine and Alison Snowden and co-produced by Nelvana Limited and Channel 4 as a collaboration, both financial and artistic. The last two seasons were co-produced without Channel 4 ...

'', '' Ready or Not'', '' Riverdale'', ''

Emily of New Moon ''Emily of New Moon'' is the first in a series of novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery about a Canadian orphan girl growing up in Prince Edward Island. Montgomery is also the author of ''Anne of Green Gables'' series. It was first published in 1923. ...

'' and '' Blackfly''. After ''Bon Cop, Bad Cop'' she returned to television, serving as a writer and producer on '' Heartland'', ''

Strange Empire ''Strange Empire'' is a Canadian Western television series that aired on CBC Television in the 2014–15 television season. Created by Laurie Finstad-Knizhnik, the series is a serialized drama set in Janestown, near the Alberta-Montana border in ...

'' and ''

Big Top Academy ''Big Top Academy'' is a musical children's TV show, that aired on TVO Kids throughout 2018 and 2019. The show stars a lengthy children's ensemble, including Drew Davis, Cameron Andres, Ava Ro, Liam Patenaude, Madison Brydges, Ellowyn Stanton, Ril ...

''.

Awards

She received a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

nomination for Best Writing in a Children's or Youth Program or Series at the

9th Gemini Awards The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's 9th Gemini Awards were held on March 5, 1995 to honour achievements in Television in Canada, Canadian television. The awards show, which was hosted by Paul Gross and Tina Keeper, took place at the Met ...

in 1995, for the ''Ready or Not'' episode "Am I Perverted or What?" For ''Bon Cop, Bad Cop'', Basen and co-writers Alex Epstein,

Patrick Huard Patrick Huard (born January 2, 1969) is a Canadian actor, writer and comedian from Quebec. Career Huard broke into the Quebec show business scene in 1989 as a comedian, actor and television personality, with success as a stand-up comedian in the ...

and

Kevin Tierney Kevin Tierney (August 27, 1950 – May 12, 2018) was a Canadian film producer from Montreal who co-wrote and produced the most popular Canadian film of all time at the domestic box office, ''Bon Cop, Bad Cop'', for which he earned a Golden Ree ...

received a

Jutra Award Jutras may have several meanings : * Claude Jutra: an award-winning French Canadian filmmaker **Jutra Award: Film awards formerly given in the Canadian province of Quebec, named after the filmmaker and now known as Prix Iris **The Claude Jutra Awa ...

nomination for Best Screenplay at the 9th Jutra Awards, and won the

Canadian Comedy Award The Canadian Comedy Awards (CCA) is an annual ceremony that awards the Beaver for achievements in Canadian comedy in live performance, radio, film, television, and Internet media. The awards were founded and produced by Tim Progosh in 2000. Th ...

for Pretty Funny Film Writing at the 8th Canadian Comedy Awards.James Reaney, "2007 Canadian Comedy Awards". ''

London Free Press ''The London Free Press'' is a daily newspaper based in London, Ontario, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Southwestern Ontario. History ''The London Free Press'' began as the ''Canadian Free Press'', founded by Willia ...

'', October 13, 2007.

References

External links

* 1955 births Living people 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women screenwriters Canadian television writers Canadian women television writers Canadian television producers Canadian women television producers Canadian Comedy Award winners York University alumni {{Canada-screenwriter-stub