Biography
Working at the intersection of character-driven narratives and high concept genre stories, Kenneth Mader is an award-winning writer-director with a strong visual sense and a gift for storytelling. His work melds science-fiction, action, and suspense with character-based motivations to deliver entertaining and thought-provoking storylines featuring powerful emotional performances.
He is known for his often nonlinear storytelling, empowered yet vulnerable female lead characters, his collaboration with actors, and achieving quality and production values on his films that compare favorably with bigger-budgeted counterparts.
His most recent feature film Displacement (2016) received a multi-city U.S. theatrical release, was acquired by A+E Networks for a world broadcast premiere on the Lifetime Movie Network, was curated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for inclusion in their historical Margaret Herrick Library, and is now available on VOD, DVD, and internationally. The film stars Courtney Hope (The Bold and the Beautiful (1987)), Academy Award Nominee and Golden Globe Winner Bruce Davison, Golden Globe Winner Susan Blakely, Sarah Douglas (Superman (1978), Superman II (1980)), and Christopher Backus (Bosch (2014), Roadies (2016)).
He is prepping his next feature Deep Focus a sci-fi thriller with stars Alaina Huffman, Bruce Davison, and Malcolm McDowell attached. It is slated to go before the cameras in 2020.
His first feature Carnivore (2000), which he co-directed, was released through 20th Century Fox Video and premiered on SyFy, where it played in rotation for a full year. It also achieved much success on pay-per-view and VOD as well as internationally. Another picture he worked on Life at the Resort (2011) starring Marc Singer, Marisa Petroro and Louis Mandylor won Best Feature in the New York International Film Festival as well as the Audience Choice Award at the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema and is now in worldwide release.
He has written, directed, and shot numerous short films including the award-winning Passing Darkness (2005) co-created with and starring Debra Hopkins and Gerald Hopkins, featuring Andrea Thompson and the late Don S. Davis, that has now been developed into a book series "The Arcadia Chronicles" which he co-wrote with acclaimed author Julie Kimbrell. The first novel Afterlife was released on February 11, 2020 in hardcover and eBook from Zimbell House Publishing, with book two being written of a planned four-book series, along with both motion picture and television series adaptations in active development.
His romantic comedy Blind Luck (2007) starring Michael Sorvino premiered at the prestigious Method Fest Film Festival, he has been nominated for both the NBC Universal and HBO/DGA Directing Fellowships, and was named one of the "Top 100 Indie Filmmakers in the World" in the book by Action On Film's Del Weston.
As a writer he took home Best Feature Screenplay honors in its category at the AOF Written Word Awards for his screenplay Deep Focus, Excellence In The Craft Of The Written Word for his script Razer, along with numerous other awards and honors. He's had development deals with companies such as Shoreline Entertainment, is a founding member and former President of the Chicago Screenwriters Network, co-founded along with television show runner Edward Allen Bernero, and is a newly minted author with his first book Afterlife published in February, 2020.
He was born and raised in Chicago where he began his film career as a young production assistant, then visual effects artist as an optical printing operator, animation cameraman, video editor and motion graphics specialist, finally moving to Los Angeles in 2001 after the release of his first feature. He has made his living in L.A. as a writer and filmmaker ever since. His development & production shingle Maderfilm has numerous projects in the pipeline. He is also an award-winning Cinematographer and Editor.
