Oren Safdie is a Canadian-American-Israeli playwright and screenwriter, and the son of architect Moshe Safdie.
Prior to embarking on a career in writing, he graduated with a Master's in Architecture from Columbia University. He also received an MFA from Columbia University in Fiction Writing. While at Columbia he studied with playwright Romulus Linney and started the West End Gate Theatre Bar.
He also spent a year at Iowa State University where he taught Design and studied with Jane Smiley.
His plays include Checks & Balances, The Bilbao Effect, West Bank, UK, The Last Word..., Jews & Jesus, Fiddler Sub-Terrain, Hyper-Allergenic, Broken Places, Laughing Dogs, La Compagnie and Private Jokes, Public Places which debuted at the Malibu Stage Co. and went on to play in New York at La MaMa ETC, before transferring to the Center of Architecture for a 5 month run. It also received productions at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto, Welfleet Harbor Actor's Theatre in Boston, the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley, California, The New End Theatre in London, England, and the National Theatre of Romania in Timisoara.
He currently holds the position of the Artistic Director of the Malibu Stage Co. and is married to actress/playwright M. J. Kang. They have a daughter born in 2008, and divide their time between Venice Beach and Montreal where he is originally from.