Biography
Writer-Director Carolyn Saunders is the 2022 winner of the Writers Guild of Canada’s Sondra Kelly Award, and an Academy Nicholl Fellowship quarterfinalist in 2021. She was selected for the Meryl Streep/Nicole Kidman Writer’s Lab and her sci-fi feature script Island West is on Coverfly’s Red List, in the Top 1% of nearly 80,000 screenplays. Three times shortlisted for the Sundance Development Track with series and feature projects, Carolyn works across genres. She co-wrote Amazon’s feminist take on Ted Bundy, the critically acclaimed series Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer, and is director/writer of the Cold War feature doc Starfighter Baby, currently in development with White Pine Pictures’ Emmy-winning producer Peter Raymont.
Carolyn’s dystopian short On Island West won the Directors UK Challenge Alexa, was shot in Cornwall during lockdown and is currently on the festival circuit. Her short drama Sundown, about a mixed race indigenous soldier disconnected from his identity, debuted at the 2021 Carmarthen Bay Film Festival.
In 2017, Carolyn made her directorial debut with the microbudget thriller The Wasting. It played to sold-out theatres, winning multiple festival awards, followed by a Canadian theatrical release and distribution in six countries.
Carolyn's co-written female-led scifi thriller series pilot Invisible was a finalist at The Writers Lab UK and shortlisted for the 2022 Script21 Drama Series Competition. She story-edited the 2019 Richard Dreyfuss-starring Astronaut and wrote episodes of the Canadian Screen Award winning comedy webseries Tokens. She has written and creative produced multiple series for Discovery, History Channel, etc A dual Canadian-UK citizen based in London, Carolyn is an alumna of the 2021 Directors UK Inspire Mentoring scheme and Canada’s Women in the Director’s Chair. She sits on the Board of Directors UK.
Carolyn’s dystopian short On Island West won the Directors UK Challenge Alexa, was shot in Cornwall during lockdown and is currently on the festival circuit. Her short drama Sundown, about a mixed race indigenous soldier disconnected from his identity, debuted at the 2021 Carmarthen Bay Film Festival.
In 2017, Carolyn made her directorial debut with the microbudget thriller The Wasting. It played to sold-out theatres, winning multiple festival awards, followed by a Canadian theatrical release and distribution in six countries.
Carolyn's co-written female-led scifi thriller series pilot Invisible was a finalist at The Writers Lab UK and shortlisted for the 2022 Script21 Drama Series Competition. She story-edited the 2019 Richard Dreyfuss-starring Astronaut and wrote episodes of the Canadian Screen Award winning comedy webseries Tokens. She has written and creative produced multiple series for Discovery, History Channel, etc A dual Canadian-UK citizen based in London, Carolyn is an alumna of the 2021 Directors UK Inspire Mentoring scheme and Canada’s Women in the Director’s Chair. She sits on the Board of Directors UK.
Credits
Wasting, The | 1 episode | View | |||||||||
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Other Credits
Sundown | Short Film | View | |||||
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On Island West | short film | View | |||||
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Non-Directorial Credits
Fatal Vows | View | ||||
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Outlaw Tech | View | ||||
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A Sicilian Dream | View | ||||
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Mighty Ships | View | ||||
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Tokens | View | ||||
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Astronaut | View | ||||
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Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer | View | ||||
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