Alumni Profile: Lauren MacKinlay ’07
Faculty of Humanities
Lauren MacKinlay is an award-winning producer, performer, content creator, and one of the co-founders of the non-profit organization Women On Screen. She was nominated for a 2017 Canadian Screen Award for her work with notable Canadian television production company Sphere Media Plus and was also awarded an IPF Producer Bursary for the 2018 Banff Media Festival. Lauren was recently one of four producers selected for the National Screen Institute of Canada’s 2019 Features First Program, a training program for writer/producer teams making their first or second feature film.
With Sphere Media Plus, Lauren is currently the Supervising Producer of the upcoming medical drama Transplant (CTV/NBCU). She served as Associate Producer for Sphere’s one-hour dramas 19–2 (CTV) and Bad Blood (co-produced with New Metric Media for City TV). She has produced cross-platform digital content for on-air series, as well as Sphere’s first original web series, Earthling House Huntress, for CBC Comedy.
Independently, Lauren has produced half a dozen short films that have toured the festival circuit and won prizes internationally. With Women On Screen, MacKinlay collaborates on and oversees programming that encourages a greater representation of women in the entertainment industry on all sides of the camera. As an actor, Lauren has appeared in numerous stage and screen productions. She was recently awarded Best Supporting Actor in an Independent Theatre Production for My Entertainment World’s 2019 Theatre Critics’ Picks Awards for her role of Amy in Michael Ross Albert’s The Grass is Greenest at the Houston Astrodome.
Lauren holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from McMaster University with a double major in English and Theatre & Film. She was the valedictorian for the McMaster Faculty of Humanities graduating class of 2007. She holds in a Masters in Acting for Screen from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England.
1. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO COME TO MCMASTER?
I was undecided about where to go for undergrad when my parents suggested that I take a tour of McMaster. The moment I set foot on campus, something just felt right. I made the decision based on a gut feeling, and I’ve never regretted following that instinct.
2. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF YOUR CAREER?
Co-running Women On Screen for the past five years has given me countless moments of joy. Our work serves to amplify the presence and voices of women on all sides of the camera; programs like our writing incubator, for example, allow female-identifying screenwriters to develop their work in a supportive and professional environment. Sometimes, this kind of experience is all a woman needs to push herself forward, and it is so fulfilling to watch that growth happen. To hear from already incredibly capable women that being involved with Women On Screen has given them the confidence they need to pursue their goals is an incomparable feeling.
3. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE?
My time as Supervising Producer of Transplant (currently filming) has been one of the greatest experiences of my career, and with a medical show, it has presented all sorts of new challenges.
To borrow a medical metaphor, as a producer you’re the general surgeon working amongst highly-trained specialists. You have the big picture in mind but will never be as knowledgeable as each department head. I struggle sometimes with wishing I knew as much about cinematography as our DP, for example, but that challenge is also one of the most exciting parts of the job. Choosing to greet each day as an opportunity to learn and not getting sidelined by imposter syndrome is a daily practice. Luckily, working in a room full of brilliant people who are outrageously good at their jobs is the best situation to practice in.
4. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED OR KNOWN FOR?
I hope I leave people feeling encouraged. It’s tough out there, but there’s so much beautiful art and important stories that need to be shared — I’d like to know that I’ve given people a sense of possibility; a sense of their own potential.
5. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO CURRENT STUDENTS?
You’re going to work hard every day in whatever career path you decide — pick the one you love. And then be flexible. Opportunities exist within your field of which you’re not even aware. It’s okay to change your mind. I started out at McMaster in Political Science (ha!).
Also, take the time to slow down, pause, and enjoy where you are. It’s the Ferris Bueller of it all: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
