Biography

Mitch McLeod was born in Garland, TX. In his early childhood, Mitch moved to small town Texas with his mother, where he spent the majority of his childhood years. He developed a passion for films and acting early on in his childhood. After seeing Scream and Halloween at the tender age of 7, Mitch developed an interest in writing horror-themed short stories and scripts. When he wasn't busy writing, Mitch would occupy his time watching movies, reading books, and acting in local plays with an insatiable hunger for the arts that never ceased.

When he was just about ready to graduate from high school, Mitch discovered the films of David Lynch and Darren Aronofsky and his life was forever changed. It was these films that inspired him to develop a passion for working behind the camera. Soon after graduation, Mitch began to work on local film sets, both in front of and behind the camera, soaking in all the knowledge that he could and developing his skills. After several years of doing this, he decided that he was ready to try his luck with his own film. With no formal education or prior experience directing, Mitch made the ambitious decision to shoot a feature film with a zero dollar budget. Despite distribution offers, the film was never released. Mitch decided, instead, to use that first film experience as his film school and sharpen his abilities as a director on future projects.

Mitch soon went on to direct his second feature film ARC with a meager budget of $2000. The film had a successful festival run and garnered him some fans, but it was his short film Birthday Girl, a ten minute black and white arthouse film about the traumas of sexual abuse, that got him attention. The film had a small festival run, winning a handful of awards and being nominated for more. More importantly, the film caught the attention of a local producer who went on to fund Mitch's third feature film Silhouette, a heavy-hitting horror/drama about a husband and wife attempting to rebuild their lives after the death of their child.

To call Silhouette's budget shoestring would be generous. With a modest budget of $25,000, Mitch set out on his most ambitious project yet. With his largest cast and crew to date, his most demanding locations, and his largest FX necessities, Mitch and his team stretched every dollar to its highest capacity. The hard work paid off and the film went on to have a very successful festival run, picking up 9 awards and being met with overwhelmingly positive reception. It made waves in the underground horror scene and, most importantly, established Mitch as a legitimate up and comer in genre filmmaking.

Mitch married actress and writer Jessica Dawn Willis in March 2018, and the two have been successfully collaborating ever since.
- IMDb mini biography by: Absentia Pictures