Damian Kindler (born May 31, 1968) is an Australian-Canadian screenwriter, television producer, director and showrunner. He has worked on a number of genre TV programs, including Stargate SG-1, Sleepy Hollow, Krypton, and American Gods. Kindler is best known for creating, writing, and producing the Syfy fantasy science-fiction series Sanctuary (2007-2011).^[1]

Kindler was born in Melbourne, Australia. His family relocated to Rochester, NY, only a few months after his birth so that his father, a medical student, could complete his residency. The family moved to Toronto, ON in 1971.^[2]

Kindler attended Queen's University in Kingston, ON where he studied English and Film.^[3]

In 2009, Kindler and his wife, Jill Bodie, collaborated with Amanda Tapping on a children's charity foundation called Sanctuary for Kids, intending to leverage the show's cult following for a good cause.^[4][5] The foundation closed in 2018.^[6]

Kindler currently resides in Los Angeles.^[7] He has cited Stephen King, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Aaron Sorkin as writing inspirations.^[3][8][9]

Kindler began his career in 1995 on Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.^[3] He then worked on MGM Television's Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis television series. He joined the Stargate production team at the start of Stargate SG-1's sixth season, remaining part of the writing staff for five seasons.

In May 2007, Kindler launched the independent web series Sanctuary, which was then picked up for television by The Movie Network in Canada and Syfy in the United States. The show ran for four seasons with Kindler serving as showrunner.^[10] In 2021, the show was described as "painfully ahead of its time" by The Companion,^[11] and Kindler received attention for his early use of webisodes prior to streaming,^[12] as well as for Sanctuary being one of the first television series with nearly fully virtual special effects.^[13] Kindler's screenwriting and direction on Sanctuary received a total of 7 Leo Award nominations.

In 2013, Kindler was hired as an executive producer on FOX's Sleepy Hollow.^[14] He wrote and produced the show for 3 seasons.

Kindler was hired as an executive producer and showrunner of Syfy's Superman prequel Krypton, produced with David S. Goyer, DC Entertainment, and Warner Horizon Television in 2016.^[15]

On September 28, 2018, it was announced that Netflix had ordered the production of the science-fiction horror drama series October Faction, an adaption of the comic book series of the same name. He served as creator and showrunner for the series.^[16]

Kindler was hired in 2019 as a writer and executive producer for the third and final season of American Gods.^[1]