Chandler Levack

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Chandler Levack
Chandler Levack - Gillian Robespierre and Elisabeth Holm Master Class (14648556346) (cropped).jpg
Levack in 2014
Born
Chandler Levack
Education
Occupation(s)Writer, director, filmmaker
Years active2010s–present
Notable work I Like Movies

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

Contents

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 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 Gillian Robespierre and Elisabeth Holm Master Class (14648556456).jpg
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 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.

Matthew Miller's production company Zapruder Films (which he co-founded with Matt Johnson), launched a contest in 2016 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. [11]

Her debut as a narrative filmmaker, the short film We Forgot to Break Up , premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, [12] and won the award for Best Canadian Short Film at the 2017 Whistler Film Festival. [13]

Levak later studied screenwriting at the Canadian Film Centre. [14]

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. [15]

Levack won the $10,000 RBC Emerging Artist Award at the 2022 Calgary International Film Festival for the film. [16]

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

My Dead Mom and Mile End Kicks

In November 2023, she was announced as the director of My Dead Mom , a short-form comedy series which premiered in 2024 on Crave. [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 Gariépy. [18] The film's screenplay is "based on her own experiences as a young female music critic." [19] The film is scheduled to premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. [20]

Accolades

YearAssociationCategoryNominated workResultRefs
2022 Calgary International Film Festival $10,000 RBC Emerging Artist Award I Like Movies Won [21]
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2022 Best Canadian FilmWon [22]
Best Screenplay for a Canadian FilmWon [22]

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. 1 2 Kay, Jeremy. "Daniel Radcliffe as "Weird Al" Yankovic leads TIFF Midnight Madness; Discovery, Wavelength sections also unveiled". Screen. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
  3. 1 2 3 "I Like Movies". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  4. 1 2 "The 23 best Canadian comedies ever made". The Globe and Mail. 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  5. 1 2 "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. ↑ Regan Reid, "Zapruder Films selects Women First screenwriting winner". Playback , October 4, 2016.
  12. ↑ Jordan Adler, "We Forgot to Break Up premieres at TIFF". Canadian Jewish News , September 5, 2017.
  13. ↑ Craig Takeuchi, "It's a tie for best Canadian feature at the 2017 Whistler Film Festival". The Georgia Straight , December 4, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Alumni Spotlight – IWD Edition: Chandler Levack". Canadian Film Centre. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  15. ↑ Mullen, Pat (December 8, 2022). "Three Feature Docs Make Canada's Top Ten". Point of View .
  16. ↑ Michele Jarvie, "Calgary International Film Festival jury winners announced". Calgary Herald , September 27, 2022.
  17. ↑ "TV & Film News – Chandler Levack makes TV directorial debut with Crave's ‘My Dead Mom’". Broadcast Dialogue, November 16, 2023.
  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. ↑ Calum Slingerland (August 29, 2024). "'Euphoria' Star Barbie Ferreira to Lead Montreal-Set Rom-Com 'Mile End Kicks'". Exclaim! . Retrieved June 26, 2025.
  20. ↑ John Hazelton, "Toronto film festival first wave includes Steven Soderbergh’s ‘The Christophers’, Nia DaCosta’s ‘Hedda’". Screen Daily , June 26, 2025.
  21. ↑ "Chandler Levack resurrects the video store for coming-of-age film 'I Like Movies'". CityNews Kitchener. 2023-03-23. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  22. 1 2 "Vancouver Film Critics Like I Like Movies". Northern Stars, February 14, 2023.
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