Miranda Kwok

Miranda Kwok is an actress, screenwriter and film producer born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Biography/Education

Miranda began her studies in the arts at the age of ten when she attended the Claude Watson School for the Arts, Canada's premiere multidisciplinary school for the performance and visual arts. While at Claude Watson, Miranda majored in Visual Arts and minored in Drama and Dance. Miranda made her television debut at the age of thirteen, and since then, has performed in several leading, supporting and guest starring roles in film, television and theatre.

Miranda continued her education at Earl Haig Secondary School, where she completed the Claude Watson Arts Program as well as the Academy Program for the intellectually gifted.

Miranda completed an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Psychology at the University of Toronto. At the same time, Miranda provided her services as a counselor for crisis intervention at a number of community shelters and crisis centers.

Miranda was a participant in "Project: Involve," a mentorship program at the IFP in Los Angeles. Through the directors of "Project: Involve," Miranda was recommended for and subsequently won a full scholarship award at The Los Angeles Film School for their Feature Development Program – which she completed with Honors.

Miranda was on the front cover of the February 2008 edition of The North York Post magazine.^[1]

Miranda is a Black Belt in the Martial Art of Wushu.

Screenwriting

Miranda won the grand prize in the Slamdance Screenplay Competition for a historical drama that she wrote entitled Song of Silence.^[2] In addition to Slamdance, Miranda was a finalist in several screenwriting competitions and won a nomination by APA Film for the ABC New Talent Development Scholarship Grant Program.^[3]

Song of Silence was optioned by Jeff Apple, producer of In the Line of Fire starring Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich and Rene Russo, and The Recruit starring Al Pacino and Colin Farrell. Attached to direct is Jonathan Kaplan who directed Jodi Foster in her Oscar winning performance in The Accused and Michelle Pfeiffer in her Academy Award nominated performance in Love Field.

Miranda's first television spec script House: The Transplant earned her a placement in the 2008-2009 CBS Diversity Initiative Writers Mentoring Program. She was also a Finalist in the NBC Writers on the Verge Program. In 2010, Miranda won a placement as an Honoree in the WGA Writer Access Project for professional screenwriters.

Miranda was one of five full-time writers who worked on the first season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand, an original television drama based on Spartacus, the leader of the slave uprising against the ancient Roman Empire. Steven S. DeKnight (Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) has been signed as Head Writer and showrunner of the series, which are also developed by Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3 and Evil Dead), Rob Tapert (The Grudge, Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys) and Joshua Donen (The Quick and the Dead) and is being produced in New Zealand by Starz Media's Starz Productions.^[4]

Production

Miranda has produced a number of short films, industrials and feature-length films that are now distributed internationally. She is the president and CEO of ShadowDance Pictures, a film production company established in 2002.

Awards

2004 Slamdance Film Festival Sparky Award for Best Screenplay

Selected filmography

Killing Moon (2000) – Pam
Jane Doe (2001) – Kwan
Ride or Die (2003) – Tommy Wong
F*Stop (2004) – Cornelia
Mr. Fix It (2006) – Melanie
The Eden Formula (2006) – Kate Lo
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2006) – Stacy Li
Saurian (2006) – Chi
Richard III (2008) – Portia
iMurders (2009) – Janet Ling
Bare Knuckles (2009) – Kim Sue
Fear Chamber (2009) – Kathryn Rose
Immortally Yours (2009) – Sylvia
Taken by Force (2009) – Lim Jing
Letting Go (2010) – Dana

Recurring television credits

Sanctuary (2011) – Story Editor
Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010) – Staff Writer
ER (2002) – Kristen Shoop
Earth: Final Conflict (1997–1998) – Kwai Ling Hong

Selected television credits

"Spartacus: Blood and Sand" (2010) – episode "Shadow Games" – Written By
"Spartacus: Blood and Sand" (2010) – episode "Party Favors" – Written By
"Charmed" – episode "Payback's a Witch" (2006) – Dominax
"7th Heaven" – episode "The One Thing" (2003) – Julie Liu
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" – episode "Dirty Girls" (2003) – Fighting Potential
"The Invisible Man" – episode "Money For Nothing: Part 2" (2001) – Nurse
"Once A Thief" – episode "Family Reunion" (1998)
"PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal" – episode "Kiss Of The Tiger" (1998) – Sing