Mathew Hubert Murray (born June 4, 1993), credited professionally as M. H. Murray, is a Canadian writer and filmmaker. He first attracted attention for his work on '' Teenagers'' (2014–2017), which won several accolades.

Early life

Murray was raised in the Port Credit area of

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

, by a

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

mother and a Scottish Canadian father. In high school, he started a

YouTube channel YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most v ...

and began creating "little

slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...

s" with his family and friends. He graduated from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

's film school.

Career

While in film school, Murray began working on his first web series, titled '' Teenagers''. Filmed in late 2013 and released in early 2014, ''Teenagers'' attracted media attention because its cast included former '' Degrassi'' stars

Chloe Rose Chloe Rose (born October 25, 1994) is a Canadian actress. She 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 on ''Deg ...

and

Raymond Ablack Raymond Ablack (born November 15, 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 recogni ...

. ''Playback'' wrote that "the young creators of ''Teenagers'' had to have plenty of luck, pluck, talent, and grit to get this far." Murray co-created the series with close friend Sara Tamosauskas and produced the first season alongside

Emmanuel Kabongo Emmanuel Kabongo (born December 25, 1986) is a Canadian actor and producer. Born and raised in Zaire before it became the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kabongo immigrated to Canada with his family in the 1990s. He began his acting career as a ...

, who also starred in all three seasons of the series. T. J. Scott served as an executive producer for the second and third seasons of the series. The first episode of the second season of ''Teenagers'' premiered online in July 2015 and soon went

viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral 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 spread a marke ...

, amassing more than 3 million views on YouTube. The second season was nominated for various awards, including a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) 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) p ...

and four Indie Series Awards. A third and final season was released in 2017 and received six nominations from the International Academy of Web Television and three nominations at the 9th annual Indie Series Awards. Since its release, ''Teenagers'' has received positive reviews from critics. ''Now'' called the series "addicting", "sexy", and "provocative", concluding that "because it’s not held hostage by the same rules as big network television shows, it pushes the boundaries". Following the conclusion of ''Teenagers'', Murray wrote and directed a short film titled ''Ghost''. The film stars

Mark Clennon Mark Clennon (born August 13, 1990) is a Jamaican Canadian singer, musician, and actor. Early life Clennon was born in Kingston, Jamaica, where he began taking piano lessons and writing songs in his youth. At the age of 15, he was relocated to Flo ...

as Benjamin, a gay musician who is " ghosted" by his lover. After premiering virtually at the Inside Out Film Festival, the film screened at festivals in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. ''Ghost'' had its U.S. premiere at the 47th annual Seattle International Film Festival in April 2021, and was released online in June 2021.

In 2022, Murray co-directed the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for Clennon's song "Kingston", which was filmed in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

, becoming the first music video shot in Jamaica to feature an on-screen romance between two men. Murray's feature film debut, '' I Don't Know Who You Are'', also starring Clennon, 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 ...

Influences

Murray's work on ''Teenagers'' has drawn comparisons to the ''Degrassi'' franchise''.'' In a December 2016 interview with CBC'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), credited professionally as Issa Rae, is an American actress, writer, producer, and comedian. Rae first garnered attention for her work on the YouTube web series ''Awkward Black Girl''. Since 2011, Rae h ...

's '' The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl'', John Hughes's ''

The Breakfast Club ''The Breakfast Club'' is a 1985 American teen coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. It stars Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy. The film t ...

'', 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 prim ...

'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 goats * The goat meat of young goats * Kidskin, lea ...

''. Murray has cited American actor and filmmaker John Cassavetes as an influence, and "people who use their own resources and money to get their projects going when studios or other people ignore them."

Personal life

Murray is gay.

Accolades

For his work on ''Teenagers'', Murray won several accolades. At the Vancouver Web Series Festival, he won awards for Best Screenplay in 2016 and Best Canadian Series in 2018. In 2017, he was nominated for Best Director at the 5th annual International Academy of Web Television Awards.

References

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, M. H. 1993 births Living people Canadian LGBT screenwriters Writers 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 LGBT people Film directors from Toronto Canadian LGBT film directors