Biography

Josh Leong is a Webby Award®-winning writer and director from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He is the 2025 Writers Guild Collyer Fellowship winner and his film "Chicken" world premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, won the NFFTY Jury Award, and was shortlisted for a Cannes Young Director Award. Josh was also a spotlight director with NBCUniversal's Scene in Color Film Series (presented by Target), receiving a blind script deal from Universal Television and acclaimed film producer, Will Packer.

His feature script "Lost Boys" was an Academy Nicholl Fellowship semifinalist and topped the 2024 Black List Recommended. Josh also directed the Webby Award®-winning short "The Other Side" in Ethiopia, streaming on Peacock. The film was featured on The Today Show and stars Ethan Herisse from Amazon MGM's Oscar®-nominated "Nickel Boys" (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay) and Ava DuVernay's Emmy®-winning Netflix series "When They See Us".

Having screened at ten Academy Award®-qualifying festivals and been awarded by President Obama, Josh was also a finalist for the Sundance Cultural Impact Residency, Sundance Cassian Elwes Fellowship, and DGA Commercial Directors Diversity Program. His latest film, "Trenton: To The Moon & Back", premiered at DOC NYC.

Josh is supported by the Panavision New Filmmaker Program and most recently directed "Murk", executive produced by Oscar®-nominated producer Scott Franklin ("Black Swan", "Requiem for a Dream"). He also serves on-ground in Ethiopia to pilot film mentorship programs in local orphanages.
- IMDb mini biography by: Josh Leong