Introduction
Leonard Solomon "Len" Blum (born 1951) is an award-winning Canadian screenwriter, film producer and film composer.
Early life
Blum attended Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario. He later graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1975.
Career
He has written many films including Meatballs, Stripes, Heavy Metal, Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, Meatballs III: Summer Job, Feds, Beethoven's 2nd, Private Parts, The Pink Panther and Over the Hedge. Prior to his film career, he was a songwriter and produced radio commercials.
In 2015, the Toronto International Film Festival created a screenwriter's residency program named after Blum, specifically for up and coming Canadian screenwriters to develop their projects. The inaugural resident was Stephen Dunn. In 2016, Andrew Cividino was announced as the new resident.
Accolades
He won the Genie Award for Best Original Screenplay, in 1980, for the film Meatballs.
Personal life
He has been married to Dr. Heather Munroe-Blum since 1970 with whom he has one child.
Filmography
- Meatballs (with Dan Goldberg and Harold Ramis) (1979)
- Stripes (with Dan Goldberg and Harold Ramis) (1981)
- Heavy Metal (with Dan Goldberg) (1981)
- Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (with Dan Goldberg) (1983)
- Feds (with Dan Goldberg) (1988)
- Beethoven's 2nd (1993)
- Dream Tower (with Ron Mann and Bill Schroeder) (1994)
- Private Parts (1997)
- The Pink Panther (with Steve Martin and Michael Saltzman) (2006)
- Over the Hedge (with Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton, and Karey Kirkpatrick) (2006)