Mathew Hubert Houston Bone Murray (born June 4, 1993), credited professionally as M. H. Murray, is a Canadian

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

, writer, director, and producer. He first attracted attention for his work on the

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

Teenagers Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with ...

'' (2014–2017), which won several accolades. Murray's feature-length film debut, '' I Don't Know Who You Are'', premiered in the Discovery program at the

2023 Toronto International Film Festival The 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 7 to 17, 2023.Victoria Ahearn"TIFF reveals new programmers and other 2023 festival details" '' Playback'', April 20, 2023. The most noted change from past years was tha ...

Early life

Murray was raised in the

Port Credit Port Credit is a neighbourhood in the south-central part of the City of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, located at the mouth of the Credit River on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Its main intersection is Hurontario Street and Lakeshore Road, a ...

area of

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

, by a

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

mother and a

Scottish Canadian Scottish Canadians () are people of Scottish descent or heritage living in Canada. As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada and amongst the first Europeans to settle in the country, Scottish people have made a large impact on Canadian cultur ...

father. In high school, he started a

YouTube channel YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in San B ...

and began creating "little

slasher film A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic ...

s" with his family and friends. He graduated from

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, ...

film school A film school is an educational institution dedicated to teaching aspects of filmmaking, including such subjects as film production, film theory, digital media production, and screenwriting. Film history courses and hands-on technical training are ...

Career

While in film school, Murray began working on his first

, titled ''

''. The series ran for three seasons, from 2014 to 2017, initially attracting media attention because its cast included former ''

Degrassi ''Degrassi'' is a Canadian teen drama television franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler, that follows the lives of youths attending the eponymous secondary school in Toronto. Each entry since 1987 has taken place in the same contin ...

'' stars such as

Chloe Rose Chloe Rose (born October 25, 1994) is a Canadian actress. She first rose to prominence when she portrayed Katie Matlin in the long-running teen drama television series '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'', from 2011 to 2013. Following her time o ...

and

Raymond Ablack Raymond Ablack (born November 12, 1989) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He began his career in the early 2000s as a child actor on stage, performing as Young Simba in ''The Lion King'' at the Princess of Wales Theatre. He later gained recog ...

. Murray co-created the series with close friend Sara Tamosauskas and produced the first season alongside

Emmanuel Kabongo Emmanuel Kabongo (born Christmas, December 25, 1986) is a Black Canadians, Canadian actor and film producer. Born and raised in Zaire, now present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kabongo Immigration, immigrated to Canada and began his actin ...

, who also starred in all three seasons of the series. The second season's premiere episode went

viral The word ''Viral'' means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). It may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spre ...

, amassing millions of views on YouTube. Since its release, ''Teenagers'' has received positive reviews from critics and several accolades, including a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

nomination and an

Indie Series Award The Indie Series Awards (formerly the Indie Soap Awards) is an annual event hosted by '' We Love Soaps'', based in Los Angeles, California, honoring the best in independently produced, scripted entertainment created for the Internet. The ceremon ...

. Following the conclusion of ''Teenagers'', Murray wrote and directed a short film titled ''Ghost''. The film stars Mark Clennon as Benjamin, a gay musician who is " ghosted" by his lover. The film screened virtually at film festivals in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. In 2022, he co-directed the music video for Clennon's song "Kingston".

Murray's feature-length film debut, '' I Don't Know Who You Are'', also starring Clennon, premiered in the Discovery program at the

. The film has received positive reviews from critics. Barry Hertz of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' ranked the film 7th on his list of the top 10 Canadian films of 2023.

Influences

Murray's work on ''Teenagers'' has drawn comparisons to the ''Degrassi'' franchise''.'' In a December 2016 interview with

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

's ''q'' radio show, Murray refuted ''Degrassi'' comparisons, saying that while he "respects" the show, he believes that ''Teenagers'' is "a fresh take on that experience". Murray has stated that he was influenced by

Issa Rae Jo-Issa Rae Diop (born January 12, 1985), known professionally as Issa Rae, is an American actress, writer, and producer. She achieved recognition as the co-creator, co-writer, and star of the HBO comedy series '' Insecure'' (2016–2021), for ...

's ''

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl ''The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl'' (often simply referred to as ''Awkward Black Girl'') is an American comedy web series created by and starring Issa Rae. It premiered on a dedicated YouTube channel on February 3, 2011. The show follows ...

'',

John Hughes John Hughes may refer to: Arts and Entertainment Literature *John Hughes (poet) (1677–1720), English poet *John Hughes (1790–1857), English author *John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet *John Hughes (writer) (born 1961), Australian au ...

's ''

The Breakfast Club ''The Breakfast Club'' is a 1985 American independent teen coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. The ensemble cast includes Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ring ...

'', and

Larry Clark Lawrence Donald Clark (born January 19, 1943) is an American film director, photographer, writer and film producer who is best known for his controversial teen film '' Kids'' (1995) and his photography book ''Tulsa'' (1971). His work focuses pri ...

's ''

Kids Kid, Kids, KIDS, and K.I.D.S. may refer to: Common meanings * Colloquial term for a child or other young person ** Also for a parent's offspring regardless of age * Engage in joking * Young goat * The goat meat of young goats * Kidskin, leath ...

''. Murray has cited American actor and filmmaker

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes (December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American filmmaker and actor. He began as an actor in film and television before helping to pioneer modern American independent cinema as a writer and director, often self- ...

as an influence, and "people who use their own resources and money to get their projects going when studios or other people ignore them."

Accolades

References

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, M. H. 1993 births Living people Canadian LGBTQ screenwriters Screenwriters from Toronto Web series directors 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian male screenwriters Canadian gay writers Gay screenwriters 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Film directors from Toronto Canadian LGBTQ film directors Canadian YouTubers YouTubers from Toronto