American actress, writer and director
Leah McKendrick (born 1986 or 1987) 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, California. While studying at Chapman University 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 honoree and received a Streamy Award nomination. In 2017, she wrote, produced and co-starred in her feature debut, "M.F.A.", which premiered at South by Southwest. In 2019, she was hired to write Paramount’s "Grease" prequel, "Summer Lovin'," which was later cancelled. In 2020, she wrote, directed and starred in the short film "Pamela &amp; Ivy", a feminist origin story for the supervillain Poison Ivy. The film premiered on Collider. 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 South by Southwest in March 2023 and was released theatrically by Lionsgate 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 sequel to the 1997 slasher "I Know What You Did Last Summer" for Sony Pictures.
McKendrick is writing the upcoming Netflix holiday-comedy "Mrs. Claus." The film will star Jennifer Garner and will be produced by Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter for Hello Sunshine.
McKendrick is also set to write and direct an untitled monster project for Atomic Monster and Universal Studios. James Wan and Michael Clear will produce the project with Judson Scott executive producing. Alayna Glasthal will oversee the project for Atomic Monster.
References.
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