Martin Joseph "Marty" Pasko (born Jean-Claude Rochefort; August 4, 1954– May 10, 2020) was a Canadian

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

writer and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

screenwriter. Pasko worked for many comics publishers, but is best known for his superhero stories for

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

over three decades. He wrote

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

in various media, including television

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

webisode A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cab ...

s, and a syndicated newspaper strip for Tribune Media Services, as well as comic books. He also co-created the 1975 revamp of

Doctor Fate Doctor Fate (also known as Fate) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version was originally created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Howard Sherman, debuting in ''More Fun Comics' ...

Early life and education

Pasko claimed to have been born as Jean-Claude Rochefort in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. As a teenager, he was a regular contributor to comic book letter columns and co-published a fanzine, ''Fantazine'', with Alan Brennert, who is now a novelist. After attending

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, Pasko settled in New York.

Career

Comics

The 1970s

Pasko's first published comics writing credit was a short story titled "Package Deal " for Warren Publishing's '' Creepy'' #51 (March 1973). His first published work, however, was a story titled "Eye Opener," in '' Vampirella'' #20 (October 1972), which was erroneously credited to his friend and professional benefactor,

Doug Moench Douglas Moench (; born February 23, 1948, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American writer of comics, novels, short stories, newspaper feature articles, weekly newspaper comic strips, film screenplays and teleplays. He is notable for his ''Batman'' wo ...

. Pasko started working for

and began his long association with

in 1973, as a result of his association with long-time editor

Julius Schwartz Julius "Julie" Schwartz ( ; June 19, 1915 – February 8, 2004) was an American comic book editor, and a science fiction agent. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various times he ...

. As a frequent contributor to Schwartz's letter columns, beginning in 1968, Pasko had been nicknamed "Pesky Pasko," in acknowledgment of the fact that his comments were more often than not acutely critical. His campaign to become a "lettercol regular," as a way of breaking into comics writing, was inspired and encouraged by his friend and benefactor, writer Mike Friedrich, who advised Pasko that a name that was recognizable from the letter columns would have an advantage in terms of over-the-transom, or " slush pile," contributions, by being more likely to be read before the submissions of writers unknown to the editor. Pasko's first Superman-related story was a "Private Life of Clark Kent" backup feature in ''

'' #277 (July 1974). In addition to writing backup stories and occasional other features in ''

Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/Comic anthology, magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as Detective Comics Inc., which later merged into National ...

'' during this period, such as The Atom, Pasko was the featured ''Superman'' writer from 1977–1979. '' DC Comics Presents'', a team-up title starring Superman, was launched in 1978 by Pasko and artist José Luis García-López. Pasko and

Curt Swan Douglas Curtis Swan (February 17, 1920 – June 17, 1996) was an American comics artist. The artist most associated with Superman during the period fans call the Bronze Age of Comic Books, Swan produced hundreds of covers and stories from the 195 ...

created the Atomic Skull in ''Superman'' #323 (May 1978) and the Master Jailer in ''Superman'' #331 (January 1979). From 1979–1982, Pasko contributed stories to the '' Superman Family'' anthology title, including runs as the regular writer of the Jimmy Olsen and

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Th ...

features. In addition, during 1978 and 1979, Pasko scripted the syndicated newspaper comic strip '' The World's Greatest Superheroes'' which initially starred Superman,

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

, Robin,

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

, and

The Flash The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...

, but gradually changed its focus to primarily feature Superman. A solo

story in '' 1st Issue Special'' #9 (December 1975), written by Pasko and drawn by Walt Simonson, led to an important development in the life of the character. With this story, Pasko added the concept that the spirit of Nabu resided in Doctor Fate's helmet and took control of Fate's

alter-ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a different personality. Add ...

Kent Nelson whenever the helmet was donned. In 1981

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

incorporated this into his series ''

All-Star Squadron The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in ''Justice League, Justice League of America'' #193 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. Although the team was introduced in the 1980s, its s ...

'', as an explanation of the changes in Fate's helmet and powers. In 1982, this led to DC featuring Kent and his wife Inza in a series of back-up stories, written by Pasko, in ''

''. DC later collected Pasko's stories into a three-issue limited series titled ''The Immortal Dr. Fate'' (Jan. 1985 - March 1985). Other titles Pasko wrote for DC included ''

'' from 1975–1977, featuring a major story arc documenting the heroine's attempt to gain readmission to the

Justice League of America The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in '' The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived t ...

. Wonder Woman had quit the organization after renouncing her powers. Pasko wrote a number of issues of ''Justice League of America'' between 1974 and 1977; he was the regular writer of ''

Metal Men The Metal Men are a group of robot superheroes that appear in DC Comics. The characters first appeared in '' Showcase'' #37 (March–April 1962) and were created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru. Debuting in the Silver Age of C ...

'' in 1976–1977, and wrote all seven published issues of '' Kobra'' in 1976–1977, a feature he redeveloped and re-created, loosely based on a significantly-different concept originated by

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

. The story intended to be '' Kobra'' issue #8 appeared as the Batman story in '' DC Special Series'' #1. In addition, Pasko wrote a number of issues of ''

Adventure Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...

'' between 1976 and 1980. He wrote a Daredevil prose story for '' Marvel Novel Series'' #9 (''The Marvel Superheroes'') in 1979 under the pseudonym of "Kyle Christopher".

The 1980s

In his first comics-format work for

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

, Pasko was the regular scripter of that company's ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' comic book in 1980–1981. He helped Alan Brennert enter the comics industry by having Brennert co-write ''

'' #12 (March 1981) for Marvel. Pasko was also a writer of the ''Star Trek'' comic strip from late 1982 through early 1983. In 1988, Pasko wrote an issue of the DC ''

'' comic book. In 1982, Pasko and artist Thomas Yeates revived Swamp Thing, in a new series titled '' Saga of the Swamp Thing''. Pasko left ''Swamp Thing'' with issue #19 (Dec. 1983) and was succeeded by

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

, who took the title and the character in a different direction. Pasko wrote a number of issues of the First Comics version of Joe Staton's '' E-Man'' in 1983–1984. In 1988–1989 Pasko was a regular contributor to ''

'' during its stint as a weekly anthology, where he developed a new version of "The Secret Six". He also wrote the " Blackhawk" feature therein, based on the

Howard Chaykin Howard Victor Chaykin (; born October 7, 1950) is an Americans, American comics artist, comic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor, Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustrators Robert Fawcett an ...

retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in fictional story telling whereby facts and events established through the narrative itself are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work ...

, and the subsequent monthly title (1989–1990).

The 1990s and 2000s

In 1994, he wrote the Marvel Comics licensed series '' Gargoyles'', based on a Disney Television Animation series. He then returned to New York to serve as DC's Group Editor-Mass Market. While that was his official title, within the company he was known as the head of the Special Projects Group. In this capacity, he oversaw the production of DC's custom comics; licensed titles such as the ''

'' line; and various special projects such as the writing of stage and stunt shows for the Six Flags amusement park chain, and the writing and production of various webisodes for Warner Bros. Online. In this capacity, he also co-created, with his staff, and edited the horror satire '' Gross Point,'' which ran in 1997-98. During his decade on staff at DC, Pasko wrote issues of '' Impulse'', one of two stories in the

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

issue of the 2004

tribute series '' DC Comics Presents,'' and the comics adaptation of the film '' Superman Returns''. Until 2005, he was DC's liaison to Warner Bros. Studios, vetting scripts for WBA animated programming, all feature film, television, and animated development of DC brands, and the live-action series ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...

'' and ''

Birds of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

'', as well as facilitating studio research by supplying comics and consulting on issues related to DC continuity.

Television

Live action

In Los Angeles in the 1980s, Pasko wrote for or served as a writer/ story editor on many live-action series, including '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'', '' Fantasy Island'', '' The Twilight Zone'' (the 1985–1989 CBS revival), '' Max Headroom'', ''

Simon & Simon ''Simon & Simon'' is an American crime drama television series that originally ran from November 24, 1981, to September 16, 1989. The series was broadcast on CBS, and starred Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker as two disparate brothers who ope ...

'', and ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American television sitcom created by Matt Williams (producer), Matt Williams that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May ...

''. Between 1985 and 1989, Pasko's writing and story editing partner was Rebecca Parr. The partnership was dissolved in 1989, and Pasko's future TV writing credits were exclusively in animated programming. Parr continued working in sitcoms, notably becoming a writer and executive story consultant on ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American television sitcom, created by Glen and Les Charles, Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows, that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/C ...

''.

Animation

Pasko began a long career in television animation in 1980, writing several episodes of '' Thundarr the Barbarian'' with Steve Gerber. Pasko's many other animated TV writing credits comprise series such as ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...

'', '' Exosquad'', '' Teen Wolf'', '' Berenstain Bears'', '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'', and '' My Little Pony''. Much, although not all, of this work was done in conjunction with Rebecca Parr. For ''Thundarr the Barbarian'', Pasko came up with the name of Ookla the Mok. In 1980, Gerber and Pasko were having dinner in the Westwood area one night during the period Gerber was writing the "

bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

" for the series. Gerber commented to Pasko that he had not yet decided upon a name for the Wookiee-like character the network had insisted be added to the series. As the two walked past the gate to the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

campus, Pasko quipped, "Why not call him Oo-clah?". After writing several scripts, singly and in collaboration with Gerber, Pasko became a story editor on the second season. After leaving the sitcom world at the end of the 1980s, Pasko wrote for such series as '' Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars'', '' The Tick'', '' Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'' (which he redeveloped in order to produce scripts acceptable to the network), and '' The Legend of Prince Valiant''. As well, in the early 1990s, Pasko accepted a job at Disney Consumer Products' startup comic book division, Disney Comics, developing a line of superhero titles and writing the ''

Roger Rabbit Roger Rabbit is a fictional animated anthropomorphic rabbit. The character first appeared in author Gary K. Wolf's 1981 novel, '' Who Censored Roger Rabbit?''. In the book, Roger is second banana in a popular comic strip, "Baby Herman". Roger ...

'' comics series. This activity lasted nine months until, in a corporate reorganization, Disney decided to stop publishing comics altogether. The day before he was let go by Disney, Pasko finalized a deal to join Warner Bros. Animation's '' Batman: The Animated Series'' as a writer/story editor. For his work on this series, Pasko won a 1993

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

. He is a co-writer of the animated feature '' Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.''

2000s work

Pasko in the 2000s has worked on nonfiction about various aspects of

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

history, as a writer-researcher and consultant, as well as writing children's fiction and videogame dramatics. These projects include writing '' The DC Vault'', published in 2008; working on the dramatics for ''Freaky Creatures'', Abandon Interactive Entertainment's

massively multiplayer online game A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players to interact in the same online game world. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, although t ...

; co-writing ''The Essential Superman Encyclopedia'' with Robert Greenberger; writing the children's book ''Superman: Prankster of Prime Time''; and acting as researcher, consultant, and supplemental copywriter on '' 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking''. He was a consultant to numerous independent entertainment companies, including Cryptozoic Entertainment, a gaming company, and a freelance comics writer.

Personal life

Pasko was married for thirty years to Judith Faye (née Silinsky). The couple had one child, Simcha, who is a journalist. They had been separated for ten years at the time of his death.

Death

Pasko died of natural causes on May 10, 2020, at age 65.

Comics bibliography

DC Comics

*'' 1st Issue Special'' #9 (

) (1975) *''

'' #438–439, 442, 447–448, 453–454, 465, 468, 500, 524 (1974–1981) *''Action Comics Weekly'' #601–612, 615–634 (1988–1989) *''

'' #445–448, 469–473, 475–478 (1976–1980) *'' Alien Nation'' #1 (1988) *''

'' #256 (two page feature) (1974) *'' The Batman Adventures'' #4–5 (1993) *'' Blackhawk'' vol. 2 #1–11, ''Annual'' #1 (1989–1990) *'' The Brave and the Bold'' #165, 176, 179 (1980–1981) *'' DC Comics Presents'' #1–2, 9, 35, 38–39, 41 (1978–1982) *''DC Comics Presents: Green Lantern'' #1 (2004) *'' DC Retroactive: Superman – The '70s'' #1 (2011) *'' DC Special Series'' #1, 5 (1977) *''

DC Super Stars ''DC Super Stars'' was a comics anthology series published by DC Comics from March 1976 to February 1978. Starting off as a reprint title, it finished its run with original stories. Publication history The tagline "The Line of DC Super-Stars" wa ...

'' #18 (1978) *''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' (later retitled as ''Batman Detective Comics'') is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is ...

'' #458–459, 490–491 (1976–1980) *''

'' #306–313 (Doctor Fate backup stories) (1982) *'' Freedom Fighters'' #1, 3–4 (1976) *''

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

'' #44 (1975) *''Gross Point'' #2–3 (1997) *'' House of Mystery'' #226, 277 (1974–1980) *'' House of Secrets'' #122 (1974) *'' Impulse'' #7, 18 (1995–1996) *'' The Joker'' #5 (1976) *''

'' #111–112 (two page features), #122, 128–130, 135–137, 147–148 (1974–1977) *'' Kamandi'' #43, 45 (1976) *'' Kobra'' #1–7 (1976–1977) *'' Man-Bat'' #2 (1976) *''

'' #48–53 (1976–1977) *''The New Adventures of Superboy'' #25 (1982) *'' Plop!'' #24 (1976) *''Robotech: Love & War'' #5 (text article) (2003) *'' Saga of the Swamp Thing'' #1–13, 16–19 (1982–1983) *'' Secret Origins'' vol. 2 #45 (Blackhawk) (1989) *'' Secrets of Haunted House'' #7 (1977) *''

'' #56 (1988) *''Strange Sports Stories'' #5–6 (1974) *'' Super Friends'' #43, 45 (Plastic Man) (1981) *''

'' #277, 280, 282, 285–286, 292, 294, 305–306, 310–335, 349, 367 (1974–1982) *'' The Superman Family'' #184–185, 195, 209–216 (1977–1982) *'' Superman Returns: The Movie and Other Tales of the Man of Steel'' #1 (2006) *'' Tales of Ghost Castle'' #1 (1975) *'' The Unexpected'' #190, 222 (1982) *'' Weird War Tales'' #113 (1982) *''

'' #218–224, 226–232 (1975–1977) *'' World's Finest Comics'' #273 (Plastic Man) (1981)

Disney Comics

*''

'' #10, 13–14, 16, 18 (1991)

Eclipse Comics

*'' Destroyer Duck'' #1 (1982)

First Comics

*'' E-Man'' #1–3, 5–8, 10 (1983–1984)

Marvel Comics

*'' Gargoyles'' #1–6 (1995) *''

'' #8–9, 11–16 (1980–1981)

Seaboard

*''Weird Tales of the Macabre'' #1 (1975)

Warren Publishing

*'' Creepy'' #51, 63 (1973–1974) *'' Vampirella'' #36 (1974)

Television and film credits

Television

• series head writer credits are denoted in bold * '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' (1980) * '' Thundarr the Barbarian'' (1980) * '' Blackstar'' (1981) * '' Goldie Gold and Action Jack'' (1981) * '' The Incredible Hulk'' (1982) * '' Fantasy Island'' (1983) * '' Mister T'' (1983): seasons 1-2 * '' The Berenstain Bears'' (1985) * ''G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1983 TV series), G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' (1985) * '' The Twilight Zone'' (1985) * '' My Little Pony'' (1986) * '' Max Headroom'' (1987) * ''Superman (TV series), Superman'' (1988) * ''

'' (1988) * ''

'' (1988, 1990) * ''Free Spirit (TV series), Free Spirit'' (1989) * ''Roseanne'' (1989) * ''Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars!'' (1991) * '' The Legend of Prince Valiant'' (1991–1992) * '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–1993) * '' Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'' (1993) * '' The Tick'' (1994) * ''Mega Man (1994 TV series), Mega Man'' (1994) * '' Exosquad'' (1994) * ''Skysurfer Strike Force'' (1995): as Kyle Christopher * ''Cannon Busters'' (2019)

Film

* '' Batman: Mask of the Phantasm'' (1993)

References

External links

*
"DC Profiles #22: Martin Pasko"
at the Grand Comics Database *
Martin Pasko
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
The Speeding Bullet: A Complete Archive of ''Superman'' Newspaper Strips

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pasko, Martin 1954 births 2020 deaths Canadian children's writers Canadian comics writers Canadian television writers Daytime Emmy Award winners Inkpot Award winners New York University alumni Northwestern University alumni Writers from Montreal 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Canadian male television writers Screenwriters from Quebec