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ABOUT

Hi! I'm Mandi. I'm a queer Canadian WGC-eligible screenwriter, story editor, script consultant, director, and educator that specializes in making a fool of myself.

 

Currently, I'm contracted to write an LGBTQ+ romance/adventure feature for a Canadian production company, plus co-wrote the short film version funded by the Canada Council for the Arts. I'm also the story editor for a dark comedy web series funded by Telefilm/WIDC, a script consultant for YN Films, plus worked as a script analyst for the 2022 Female Eye Film Festival. I also facilitate my one-of-a-kind Writing Through Play intensive, inspired by my training in Pochinko clown.

I’ve been told I have a knack for strong, natural dialog, well-developed characters, solid story structure, worldbuilding, collaboration, and groan-worthy puns. 

MISSION

My mission as a screenwriter/director is to tell authentic, inclusive, progressive stories in hopes on making the world a more accepting, loving place.

GENRES

Drama, comedy, dramedy, romance, fantasy (contemporary, magical girl, high fantasy, non-traditional), adventure, animation, and musicals. Additional interest in mystery and psychological thrillers.

THEMES

Most of the screenplays I write and/or direct contain themes such as:

  • Love

  • Queerness

  • Bisexuality/pansexuality

  • Coming out

  • Polyamory/ethical non-monogamy

  • Individual vs. self

  • Individual vs. society

  • Resisting oppression

  • Living authentically

  • Light vs. dark

  • Abandonment

  • Trauma & mental health

  • Family/chosen family

  • Friendship

  • Grief

  • Self discovery

  • Personal growth

  • Finding self love

  • Hustle culture

  • Power

  • Greed

  • The beauty in simplicity

  • The power of hope

  • Following your heart

MESSAGES

Most of the screenplays I write and/or direct contain messages such as:

  • Love is love

  • Choose love

  • Vulnerability is strength

  • Live your truth

  • There is light in the darkness

  • There can't be light without dark

  • There is always hope

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE

Pochinko clowning, acting (film, theatre, musical theatre, dinner theatre, jukebox musicals, Fringe theatre, improv, commercials, background, standing in, photo doubling), directing, film, bisexuality/pansexuality, polyamory/ethical non-monogamy, mental health, atheism, escape rooms, badminton, serving/hospitality industry, thrifting, embroidery, Dance Dance Revolution, Tommy Wiseau's The Room, growing up in the 90’s.

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MANDI MAXWELL

 

Screenwriter/Director

Canadian

SCREENPLAYS

Feeling Unreal
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Feeling Unreal

Written by Mandi Maxwell

Feature Film

LGBTQ+ Drama/Romance

A queer emerging theatre actress struggles with depersonalization disorder, a suicidal father, and a messy love life while playing the lead in a big-time stage play that could make or break her career. 

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Metagame
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Metagame

Written by Mandi Maxwell & Dylan Miles

Feature Film

LGBTQ+ YA Fantasy

When a troubled queer teenage misfit gets transported into the fantasy world of her tabletop role-playing game, she must slay her inner demons in order to return home to her loving friends and family.

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The Art of Christmas
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The Art of Christmas

Written by Mandi Maxwell

Story by Mandi Maxwell & Luke Rackers

 

Feature Film

LGBTQ+ Christmas Romance

When an overworked lawyer returns to her hometown for Christmas, she helps save the annual Christmas Art Show while unexpectedly falling in love with both a man and a woman, rekindling her passion for painting, and finding the Christmas spirit.

 

Executive producer attached, though the rights are still available

Reverie
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Reverie (Short Film Script)

Written by Mandi Maxwell

Short Film

LGBTQ+ Drama/Romance

 

At the height of the pandemic, a depressed Canadian woman drifts into a blissful reverie where she's reunited with her American partner on the other side of a closed border.

MOOD BOARD AVAILABLE

SCREENWRITING RESUME

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