JOHN TITLEY
Once held at gunpoint as a baby.
Now a writer of thrillers and dark comedies.
Some origin stories write themselves.
John Titley is a screenwriter and producer based in Toronto, Canada who writes about ambitious, morally grey underdogs through a dark comedy lens. His fascination with a life of crime started as a child, when he and his father survived being held at gunpoint in a clumsy, cockamamie robbery at a strip mall insurance agency that felt like a deleted scene from Fargo.
Since then he's created and sold original scripted projects in both comedy and drama, with his scripts being recognized by the National Screen Institute, the Austin Film Festival and the 2024 Stunt List for his crossover spec THE OFFICE PURGE. He’s also written over 100+ episodes of unscripted television for networks like CBC, A&E, History and Discovery, including the latest season of the critically-acclaimed DARK SIDE OF THE RING (VICE) and GANGLAND CHRONICLES for Morgan Freeman's Revelations Entertainment.
John first developed his voice as a resident of the Writers’ Lab at Norman Jewison’s Canadian Film Centre, where he wrote two short films that played festivals worldwide, including TIFF, Fantasia, LA Screamfest, and Urbanworld New York. He later trained under comedy showrunner Anthony Farrell (SHELVED, THE OFFICE) and was mentored in drama by Adam Barken (KILLJOYS) at the National Screen Institute. John’s introduction to screenwriting came studying under director Guy Maddin (RUMOURS).
John is represented by Sohrab Merchant at The Characters.