Born at Sault Ste. Marie, in Northern Ontario, Canada, Derek spent much of his adult life as a performer or staging technician. He studied both, Theatre Tech and later, Film Studies, at Ryerson University in Toronto. Derek is a proud parent, grandparent, singer, songwriter, producer, actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. Derek Stephen McPhail's permanent residence is in the charming village of Mindemoya on Manitoulin Island, in the middle of Lake Huron, Ontario.
Derek's first feature film screenplay is a magic realism historical western, recently published as "Outlaw Trail - a screenplay", by "Float Street Press", in Silver City, New Mexico. The story is set primarily in Texas, in 1858, shortly before the American Civil War. (Logline: Two ex-Texas Rangers, wrestling with their sins against the Comanche and lost identity, struggle with a bank robbery that does not go according to plan.)
Derek recently completed "Return To Sender - the screenplay", a contemporary neo-noir crime mystery, set primarily in Atlanta, Georgia. This script is based on a story idea by his friend and neighbour, "Merdick Earl McFarlane". (Logline: In a boastful act of drunkenness, an Atlanta detective's promise to solve a murder invokes the wrath of a heavily armed cabal prepared to do anything to protect their lucrative criminal enterprise.)
Derek has now recently published "Vultures on Blue Mountain", the sequel to "Dreaming Together", a magic realism historical romance, originally set in 1648, primarily in Wendat territory around "Mnidoo-Gami", the Great Lake of the Spirit. The story continues in 1980, primarily in the modern community of Collingwood, in Georgian Bay, now considered part of Lake Huron. (Logline for "Dreaming Together": After losing both his parents to a smallpox pandemic, a shy boy discovers his true calling.) (Logline for "Vultures On Blue Mountain": A journey into the future, where a young male member of the Wendat Confederacy and his female cousin travel hundreds of years into their future to learn about the strange European settlers.
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Two ex-Texas Rangers confront their sins against the Comanche and lost identity, after a bank robbery that does not go according to plan.
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In a boastful act of drunkenness, Atlanta detective, Lt. Bill Baker's promise to solve a murder invokes the wrath of a heavily armed cabal prepared to do anything to protect their lucrative criminal enterprise.
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