The Pacific Screenwriting Program (PSP) has exciting news for the Canadian screenwriting community. Award-winning showrunner Michael MacLennan has been announced as the Showrunner-in-Residence for the 2024 Scripted Series Lab. In this capacity, MacLennan will spearhead the sixth iteration of PSP’s flagship program, a role that involves mentoring and guiding up-and-coming screenwriters from British Columbia.
PSP’s Executive Director, Camilla Tibbs, expressed her enthusiasm for MacLennan’s involvement, stating, “We are thrilled to have Michael MacLennan on board for 2024. Michael brings writing and producing talent, rigor, and a wealth of experience working across Canada and in the US. The 2024 cohort are incredibly fortunate to be able to work with him.”
Michael MacLennan
Established in 2018, the Pacific Screenwriting Program is committed to fostering a vibrant screenwriting community in British Columbia. The Scripted Series Lab, a key initiative of the program, places six emerging B.C.-based screenwriters in a collaborative environment, allowing them to develop original series. The program also provides workshops, mentoring, and networking opportunities to prepare participants for successful careers in the industry. Notably, many program alumni have gone on to contribute to series on platforms such as Netflix, CBC, Apple TV+, Amazon, Bell, Corus, and more.
“The West Coast has a diverse and deep bench of writers, and as a fourth-generation Vancouverite, it’s an honor to return home with this opportunity to mentor some of them,” says MacLennan. “Having met the wildly talented contenders, I expect we’ll all be lucky to work for them in a few short years.”
Michael MacLennan, a Vancouver native, boasts an impressive career, having been nominated seven times for the Writers Guild of Canada Canadian Screenwriting Award and receiving the WGC’s 2018 Showrunner of the Year Award. With nearly 300 episodes produced, his credits include Co-Executive Producer of Queer As Folk, creator and EP of Godiva’s, Co-EP on Flashpoint, Bitten, and Freeform’s hit series The Fosters. He co-created and show-ran Bomb Girls, twice nominated for Best Series by the Canadian Screen Awards and honored as Outstanding Dramatic Series by the US Gracie Awards. MacLennan has also written multiple pilot scripts for CBS and ABC and served as Executive Producer and Showrunner of Omnifilm Entertainment’s BritBox/ITV series The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco. Most recently, he created the Netflix hit series Tiny Pretty Things, which held the number-one spot worldwide for fourteen days.
The Pacific Screenwriting Program’s initiatives are made possible through the generous support of Netflix, Creative BC, the CMPA-BC Branch, the Canada Media Fund, and the Collective Bunch. With Michael MacLennan at the helm, the 2024 Scripted Series Lab promises to be a transformative experience for the next generation of B.C.-based screenwriters.
