Chandler Levack

Chandler Levack
Born
Chandler Levack
Education
Occupation(s)Writer, director, filmmaker
Years active2010s–present
Notable workI Like Movies

Chandler Levack is a Canadian writer, director, and filmmaker.[1]

Levack is best known for her work as an entertainment writer, and for her feature film directorial debut, I Like Movies, which premiered in the Discovery program at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival to universal critical acclaim.[2][3][4]

Early life

Levack was born in Toronto and raised in Brantford, Ontario.[5] In 2004, Levack returned to live in Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood.[5]

Career

Early work

Levack moderating a talk with Gillian Robespierre in 2014

Levack dropped out of her cinema studies courses at the University of Toronto to pursue a career as a writer.[6] Since then, she has worked an arts and entertainment writer for publications including Eye Weekly, Toronto Life, SPIN, The Globe and Mail, and the Toronto Star.

Levack is a two-time Juno Award nominee for Video of the Year, receiving nominations alongside Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux at the Juno Awards of 2015 for directing PUP's "Guilt Trip" music video,[7] and at the Juno Awards of 2016 for directing PUP's "Dark Days" music video.[8]

She was a Prism Prize nominee for both "Guilt Trip"[9] and "Dark Days",[10] and has also directed music videos for DZ Deathrays and Jeremy Dutcher.

Her debut as a narrative filmmaker, the short film We Forgot to Break Up, premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival,[11] and won the award for Best Canadian Short Film at the 2017 Whistler Film Festival.[12]

Levak later studied screenwriting at the Canadian Film Centre.[13]

I Like Movies

Main article: I Like Movies

I Like Movies, Levack's debut feature film, premiered in the Discovery program at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival,[2] and received widespread acclaim.[3] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10.[3] The film was named to TIFF's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2022.[14]

Levack won the $10,000 RBC Emerging Artist Award at the 2022 Calgary International Film Festival for the film.[15]

In 2023, Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail named the film as one of the 23 best Canadian comedy films ever made.[4]

Upcoming projects

In November 2023, she was announced as the director of My Dead Mom, a short-form comedy series in production for Crave.[16]

Matthew Miller's production company Zapruder Films (which he co-founded with Matt Johnson), launched a contest to back a first-time female screenwriter with $12,000 in funding, story editor guidance, and script optioning; Levack and her feature film Anglophone were announced as the winners from 137 entries.[17] In 2024, it was announced that Levack's second feature, Mile End Kicks (retitled from Anglophone), would star Barbie Ferreira, Devon Bostick, Stanley Simons, and Juliette Gariepy.[18] The film's screenplay is "based on her own experiences as a young female music critic."[19]

Accolades

Year Association Category Nominated work Result Refs
2022 Calgary International Film Festival $10,000 RBC Emerging Artist Award I Like Movies Won [20]
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2022 Best Canadian Film Won [21]
Best Screenplay for a Canadian Film Won [21]

References

  1. ^ Meghan Collie, "Chandler Levack on Her New TIFF Short & the Importance of Telling Trans Stories" Archived 2020-07-13 at the Wayback Machine. Flare, September 13, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Kay, Jeremy. "Daniel Radcliffe as "Weird Al" Yankovic leads TIFF Midnight Madness; Discovery, Wavelength sections also unveiled". Screen. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
  3. ^ a b c "I Like Movies". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "The 23 best Canadian comedies ever made". The Globe and Mail. 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  5. ^ a b "The Toronto Portraits - Chandler Levack". www.blogto.com. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  6. ^ Brodsky, Jennie Punter,Katherine (2022-11-22). "Meet Variety's 10 Canadians to Watch Set to be Honored at the Whistler Film Festival". Variety. Retrieved 2024-08-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Juno Awards 2015: Avril Lavigne, Nickelback and Kiesza among nominees". Hello! Canada, January 28, 2015.
  8. ^ "Junos 2016: Complete list of Juno Award nominees". CBC News, February 2, 2016.
  9. ^ "Prism Prize announces Top 10 best Canadian music videos of 2014" Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine. Vancouver Sun, February 12, 2015.
  10. ^ Sarah Murphy, "Prism Prize Announces Top 20 Finalists for 2016". Exclaim!, February 9, 2016.
  11. ^ Jordan Adler, "We Forgot to Break Up premieres at TIFF". Canadian Jewish News, September 5, 2017.
  12. ^ Craig Takeuchi, "It's a tie for best Canadian feature at the 2017 Whistler Film Festival". The Georgia Straight, December 4, 2017.
  13. ^ "Alumni Spotlight – IWD Edition: Chandler Levack". Canadian Film Centre. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  14. ^ Mullen, Pat (December 8, 2022). "Three Feature Docs Make Canada's Top Ten". Point of View.
  15. ^ Michele Jarvie, "Calgary International Film Festival jury winners announced". Calgary Herald, September 27, 2022.
  16. ^ "TV & Film News – Chandler Levack makes TV directorial debut with Crave's ‘My Dead Mom’". Broadcast Dialogue, November 16, 2023.
  17. ^ "Winner Selected from 137 Entries". Zapruder Films. 2016. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  18. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (2024-08-29). "'Euphoria' Star Barbie Ferreira to Lead XYZ's Rom-Com 'Mile End Kicks' With Devon Bostick, Stanley Simons, Juliette Gariepy (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  19. ^ "'Euphoria' Star Barbie Ferreira to Lead Montreal-Set Rom-Com 'Mile End Kicks' │ Exclaim!". 'Euphoria' Star Barbie Ferreira to Lead Montreal-Set Rom-Com 'Mile End Kicks' │ Exclaim!. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  20. ^ "Chandler Levack resurrects the video store for coming-of-age film 'I Like Movies'". CityNews Kitchener. 2023-03-23. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  21. ^ a b "Vancouver Film Critics Like I Like Movies". Northern Stars, February 14, 2023.