Leah McKendrick (born ) 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 Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...

she wrote, directed, produced, 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 The YouTube Streamy Awards, also known as the Streamy Awards or Streamys, are presented annually by Dick Clark Productions and Tubefilter to recognize excellence in online video, including directing, acting, producing, and writing. The forma ...

nomination. In 2017, she wrote, produced and co-starred in her feature debut, '' M.F.A.'', which premiered at

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

. 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 & 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

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 Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...

. McKendrick is also 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.

Select filmography

Actress

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKendrick, Leah Living people American women film directors Film directors from California American women screenwriters Screenwriters from California 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women writers Year of birth missing (living people)