Director, Screenwriter, Actor

(b. July 23, 1962 Sydney, Nova Scotia)

A major force on the Canadian theatre scene as an actor, director, producer, playwright and artistic director, Daniel MacIvor is widely regarded as Canada’s most influential post-modern playwright. He studied theatre at Dalhousie University in Halifax and at George Brown College in Toronto before co-founding the theatre company da da kamera, of which he is artistic director.

MacIvor has written dozens of plays in the last fifteen years, including Monster, House, and Cul-De-Sac. He has been writer in residence at Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and Tarragon Theatre, as well as the National Theatre School. His plays, many of which are solo works that emphasize a direct connection between the actor and the audience, have been nominated six times for the Chalmers New Canadian Play Award and have won numerous Fringe Festival awards both nationally and internationally. Working in collaboration with director Daniel Brooks, MacIvor has twice won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Direction, first in 1993 for The Lorca Play, then in 1997 for The Soldier Dreams.

He started acting for the screen in 1987 with appearances in the feature film Night Friend and the CBC-TV series “Street Legal.” He continued to score small roles in film and television and in 1993 co-starred in David Wellington’s I Love a Man in Uniform. He enjoyed something of a breakout year in 1994 when he appeared in three films: Sky Gilbert’s My Addiction, the AIDS drama The Last Supper and Jeremy Podeswa’s Eclipse. The following year, he wrote, directed and starred in his first short film, Wake Up, Jerk Off (1995), and continued to appear in off-beat, gay-themed features including Cynthia Roberts’s Bubbles Galore (1996), Gilbert’s My Summer Vacation (1996) and John Greyson’s Uncut (1996). In 1996 he starred in the screen adaptation of House, written and directed by Laurie Lynd, and wrote and directed his second short film, Permission, about a father whose seven-year-old son asks him for a doll.

MacIvor gained national recognition for his hilarious, high-strung performance in Don McKellar’s CBC series "Twitch City" (1998) and earned a Genie nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Podeswa’s The Five Senses (1999), an experience he credits with teaching him the finer points of film acting. In 1999 his play Marion Bridge was nominated for a Governor General’s Award, and in 2000 In On It won a “Village Voice” OBIE Award.

His screen adaptation for Marion Bridge – directed by his friend and former roommate Wiebke von Carolsfeld – earned him a Genie nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film premiered at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival®, where it was named Best Canadian First Feature Film. Also in 2002, he made his film directing debut with Past Perfect, which portrays the beginning and end of a relationship between two people who meet on a plane. His second feature as writer and director, Wilby Wonderful (2004), featured a who’s-who of Canadian acting talent and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival®. MacIvor is currently working on a screen adaptation of his acclaimed play You Are Here.

Film and video work includes

Night Friend, 1987 (actor)
Street Legal series, 1987 (actor, TV, one episode)
Justice Denied, 1989 (actor)
RSVP, 1991 (actor)
The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy, a.k.a. The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore, 1992 (actor)
Forever Knight, 1992 (actor; TV, one episode)
Gross Misconduct, 1993 (actor; TV)
Wake Up, Jerk Off, 1993 (director; writer; actor)
The Last Supper, 1994 (actor)
My Addiction, 1994 (actor)
House, 1996 (writer; actor)
Wasaga, 1995 (actor)
Bubbles Galore, 1996 (actor)
My Summer Vacation, 1996 (actor)
Permission, 1997 (director; writer)
Uncut, 1997 (actor)
Beefcake, 1998 (actor)
From Morning On I Waited Yesterday, 1998 (story editor)
Twitch City series, 1998 (actor)
Until I hear from You, 1998 (director; writer; actor)
Take-out, 2000 (actor)
Spiral Bound, 2000 (actor; story editor)
Dead by Money, 2001 (actor)
Touch, 2001 (actor)
Past Paerfect, 2002 (director; writer; actor)