Rick Whelan is an award-winning playwright, journalist and screenwriter. He began his professional life as an actor, appearing as Charlie Brown in the U.S. national company of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown. He spent four seasons as a member of the acting company at the Stratford Festival. His plays have been produced at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, the Barter Theatre (Virginia) and the Actors' Theatre of Louisville as well as many other theaters across North America. His screenplay The Stride was a finalist in a number of screenwriting competitions, including Matt Damon's Project Greenlight as well as the Nashville Film Festival's screenwriting contest and won top prize in the Life Fest Film Festival. He is writing (July 2017) a screenplay based on the novel Clara Callan by Richard B. Wright for Ballinran Entertainment.