Bio

Norman is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, actor, and visual artist. His work explores social, political, and moral issues, encouraging audiences to engage in discussion.

Current screenwriting projects include “Blood Rush” (with co-creator and co-writer Darragh McDonald), “Scabs”, and “Theory”, adapted from his original play. “Theory” is a psychological thriller about a professor who tests the limits of free speech by creating an unmoderated discussion board, thrusting her into a game of cat-and-mouse with a mysterious student whose dangerous postings make her question her beliefs and fight back for her life. “Theory” had its American premiere at Mosaic Theater Company in Washington, DC, after its world premiere at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. “Theory” won the Herman Voaden National Playwriting Prize, was nominated for the Carol Bolt Award, and is being developed as a feature film. “Theory” will be published by Playwrights Canada Press in 2020. He was recently at the Stratford Festival Playwrights Retreat to write his new play “Others”, a satire about the shift in power from straight white males to… others. His play “Pu-Erh” was nominated for four Dora Mavor Moore Awards, including Outstanding New Play, and was a Herman Voaden finalist. “Theory” and “Ms. Desjardins” are available as podcasts on CBC/PlayMe.

Films he has written and directed include “Anne Darling”, “Marnie Love”, “Hello Faye”, and “Light 01”, which have screened at international film festivals, on Movieola Channel, Mini Movie International Channel (Europe), and on Air Canada.  He was Second Unit Director on “The Tracey Fragments”, a feature film directed by Bruce McDonald and starring Ellen Page.

As an actor, film and television credits include a supporting role in “Resident Evil: Afterlife” (Sony/Screen Gems), a series regular role in “Todd and the Book of Pure Evil” (SPACE/CTV), and roles in “Rookie Blue” (ABC/Global), “Murdoch Mysteries” (CBC), “Frankie Drake Mysteries” (CBC) and many more. Stage performances include “Chimerica” (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre/Canadian Stage), “The Kite Runner” (Theatre Calgary/Citadel Theatre),
“The Canadian” (Thousand Islands Playhouse) and “Salome” (Los Angeles Opera). He will be acting at the Stratford Festival in 2020 in “Hamlet”, “Much Ado About Nothing”, and “Wolf Hall”.

Since 1993, his urban art can be found under bridges, on freight trains, behind warehouses, in transit tunnels, and on living room walls, from New York City to Brisbane. He has exhibited his paintings and drawings in such venues as FRCP/Galerie Youn (Montreal), Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), Art Gallery of Mississauga, Board of Directors (Toronto), and curcioprojects (New York City). His painting and illustration clients include LVMH, Bruce Mau Design, National Film Board of Canada, MTV, CBC, Eye Weekly, Rice Paper Magazine, and many more. He was featured on CBC Radio 3’s “MAKE: Next Generation Canadian Creators”, CBC’s ZeD TV, MuchMusic, MTV, and in numerous publications and documentaries.

Norman’s work as an actor and writer is featured in the books “Reading Wide Awake: Politics, Pedagogies, and Possibilities” by Patrick Shannon, and “Voices Rising: Asian Canadian Cultural Activism” by Xiaoping Li. He has lectured at Central Technical School (Toronto) about urban art, at Lord Byng Secondary School (Vancouver) about a career in the arts, spoken at The Humanitas Festival (Toronto) about responsible casting of minorities in media, and received a Toronto Clean and Beautiful City Appreciation Award for his mural work. He was a playwriting mentor for the Paprika Festival (Toronto) in 2011 and 2015.

He holds a BFA (Honours) in Film from Ryerson University and a BFA in Acting/Theatre from University of British Columbia. Norman grew up in East Vancouver, and lives and works in Los Angeles and Toronto.