Geordie Sabbagh

Despite spending summers cleaning toilets with convicts, discovering Kung Fu movies at an underground cinema in China, to almost dying in a landslide, writer/director Geordie Sabbagh continues to create work where sarcasm is the highest form of wit. Born in Canada to a Lebanese entrepreneurial father and a CBC journalist mother, Geordie was raised on the poor side of the Cayman Islands. He returned to Canada in January and immediately tried to hitchhike back. Originally planning on becoming a pediatric surgeon, even doing a co-op in the OR, he got into medical school only to realize it wasn't his path. Along with a degree in Art History, including spending a year in the Netherlands not learning Dutch, he got his MBA in London. Continuing to confuse his parents, rather than take a 6-figure job in banking, he accepted a position with the BBC World Service, Afghanistan. On his first day, he received death threats from Al-Qaeda. After a few years at the BBC, including at Radio Drama working alongside some of Britain's greats, Geordie returned to Canada and began producing. He oversaw multiple multi-million-dollar worldwide productions for Discovery while learning the art of the cliffhanger from the guy who invented Shark Week. A graduate of the CFC (Canada's AFI), his work includes shorts, series, features, and an award-winning children's book. He's worked with actors such as Melanie Scrofano (Wynonna Earp), Missy Peregrym (FBI), and David Cronenberg, who stepped out of the director's chair to act in one of his shorts. His films have all played theatrically, achieved worldwide commercial success, and played at festivals, including ComicCon, Shanghai, and Fantasia. He just became the first person to race with a car seat in the back at Canada's premier racing track.