Phil Leirness has always been a storyteller, with a passion for writing, acting, and filmmaking. From a young age, he was writing short stories and acting in plays and musicals. By the time he graduated from high school, he was already a published film critic, a stand-up comic, and a television host in his native San Francisco Bay Area.
After moving to Los Angeles, Leirness continued to perform stand-up comedy and worked as a television host. It was upon seeing the Wim Wenders masterpiece Wings of Desire (1987) in 1988 that he knew he had to become a filmmaker.
While attending the UCLA Film School, Leirness co-produced, wrote, directed, and starred in an award-winning thesis film, Through Nights That Never End. The film also starred Merrin Dungey, Suli McCullough, and Leirness' mentor at the time, Alexander Payne.
Following film school, Leirness made several educational and training films before making his feature film debut as a writer-director with Til Death Do Us Part (1995). A low-budget romantic comedy focusing on a love triangle, the film was released internationally by Solomon International Enterprises.
Leirness produced and directed an industrial film and several commercials before writing, producing, directing, and acting in The Party Crashers (1998). A dark comedy about a Hollywood party held hostage, the film was described as "Slyly amusing" and "good-looking, technically resourceful, attractively cast and assuredly paced" by Daily Variety.
An English-language remake of the erotic classic The Story of O (1975) was the third feature film to be directed by Leirness, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Although legal and MPAA ratings issues have prevented its release in the U.S., The Story of O: Untold Pleasures (2002) has received major releases throughout the world.
From summer of 2001 to summer of 2005, Leirness served as Head of Acquisitions and Development for Pasadena-based GOAL Productions and its feature film division, Shadowland. In this capacity, he oversaw development and production of the PBS documentary The Great Year (2004),and directed almost forty behind-the-scenes documentary shorts examining the making of various feature films.
During this time, Leirness directed stage shows at the Acme Comedy Theatre in Los Angeles and for the prestigious CAPPIES program. He also developed and directed the debut feature film from Shadowland, Spectres (2004). A science-fiction ghost story, the film was called one of the year's "most impressive independent movies" by Sci-Fi Online and focused on the estranged relationship between a workaholic mother and her suicidal teen-aged daughter.
In August of 2005, Leirness became the Managing Director of Cinema Arts Entertainment, a position he held until June of 2008. He then left to promote his new feature film, Karl Rove, I Love You (2007). A political thriller, the film was described as "a political Blair Witch Project" and "a weird love letter to the most evil political figure of our time." The film played to sold-out audiences in New York City and Los Angeles, set attendance records in Vermont, and won awards in Indianapolis, Providence, and Spain.
Now forty years old, Leirness is developing several feature film projects, including a feature documentary he will start shooting in August. He is also writing two books and co-hosts the weekly podcast show "Chillpak Hollywood Hour" on the Farpoint Media Network.
