Richard Young - MISAFF STAR 2025
MISAFF 2025 STAR - Richard Young
We are delighted to announce that the talented Canadian actor Richard Young is our MISAFF25 Star.
From a South Asian (Indo-Caribbean) background, Richard Young is a two-time Canadian Screen Award-winning writer and actor. Writing credits include the television series “Overlord and the Underwoods” (CBC/Nickelodeon), "Dino Ranch" (CBC/Disney+) and "16 Hudson" (TVO), the digital series "Sudden Master" (OMNI) and dramatic short "Maternal" (CBC Reflections). His writing accolades include Coverfly RED List, ScreenCraft Sci-Fi and Fantasy Screenwriting Competition Finalist/Honorable Mention, JFL ComedyPRO Pitch Finalist and Austin Film Festival Screenplay Semifinalist. His short film "Rising Tide", which recently won the US-based Tasveer-Netflix Film Fund, goes to camera in 2026.
Richard's screen acting credits include the revival of "Malcolm In The Middle" (Disney+), "Saint-Pierre" (CBC), "Allegiance" (CBC), "Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent" (CityTV), and "Transplant" (NBC). His stage acting credits include "The Time Capsule" (Theatre Aquarius), "Network" (Citadel/Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre) and three productions of "The New Canadian Curling Club" (Thousand Islands Playhouse, Western Canada Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects). Richard also voiced on Ubisoft's "Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora", the video game based on James Cameron's iconic sci-fi movie franchise.
He serves as an AFBS Governor and served as the ACTRA Toronto Treasurer, focusing on diversity and inclusion. Before disappointing his immigrant parents by pursuing the arts, Richard earned a BSc. (Honours) in Psychology (Queen's University) and an MBA (York University: Schulich).
Richard's Writer Statement: I exist in the in-between: A brown guy who grew up in Canada’s white suburbs, earned a BSc. and MBA before becoming a screenwriter/actor, and writes both comedy and speculative fiction because of how these genres critique society. As a way to meld my disparate parts, I love writing characters forced to navigate two worlds, be it different cultures, workplaces or even planets. By writing stories that remix “marginalized” with “mainstream” narratives, I strive to create unique yet relatable concepts, pulling viewers in to open their hearts and minds.