Shelagh was born in Vancouver and relocated to England when she was six years old. After training as an actress, she starred in Dennis Potter's, Prix Italia winner, Cream In My Coffee, before moving to Toronto and then onto Los Angeles.

After appearing in several TV series, films and at the prestigious Stratford festival in Canada, she returned to England to play Dr Kate Webster in Peak Practice for several series.

Shelagh completed the three-year BA film and screenwriting programme at Kingston university, graduating with a first class degree, during which her two short films: RUN And David Rose, won awards and were nominated as best short film at several international film festivals. She went on to take an MA in Creative Writing and graduated with distinction in 2015.

Her first feature film as writer/director – Astronaut - stars Academy award winning actor Richard Dreyfuss, and Academy nominated Graham Greene. Principal photography was completed in 2018. The film was produced by Jessica Adams, and Sean Buckle. Filming took place in Hamilton Ontario, Toronto.

Nexus, her second screenplay, was shortlisted by Sundance Screenwriter's lab and chosen for the prestigious IRIS Writer’s Lab 2018, supported by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman, with a proposed shoot in fall 2019.

2019 Edinburgh International Film Festival World Premiere for Astronaut Richard Dreyfuss is excellent in this moving and enthralling new drama from writer-director Shelagh McLeod. Dreyfuss stars as Angus, a lonely widower whose long-held dream of becoming an astronaut is reignited when a nationwide competition is announced to win a trip to space with an independent space agency. Angus struggles against prejudice towards his age and increasing ill health, and with the help of his dysfunctional family his dream gets closer and closer to becoming reality. [12A] Astronaut is nominated for the 2019 EIFF Audience Award. Edinburgh International Film Festival   Screen Daily - Edinburgh Film Festival Winner - Best Director - National Film Awards (2021) Selected for Best of the Fest: Edinburgh Film Festival (2020) Winner(2017) JETS Berlin

Reviews

Shelagh McLeod… forcefully… infectious… film debut… heart-warming… done with fire...

Veteran American actor Richard Dreyfuss is back in British Columbia actress Shelagh McLeod’s directorial debut, Astronaut (July 14, 7 p.m., Alumni Auditorium), about a man who always wanted to see the stars up close.

2019 Fantasia International Film Festival

Fantasia is proud to be presenting the film’s first screening on the continent, following its launch at the 2019 Edinburgh Film Festival.

Montreal, July 11 - August 1

“It’s a sentimental drama with elements of realist fantasy,” Davis said. “It’s super sweet and touching, hearkening back to Dreyfuss’s character Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
Mitch Davis, Fantasia co-director and director of international programming

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