Toby McShane on set Cherubs

Photo by @cedricdeurfilm

Toby is a British-Irish screenwriter based in Switzerland.

His work moves between dark comedy, psychological drama and thriller, often exploring characters pushed to the margins by grief, circumstance or the institutions around them. His stories are frequently international in scope, but remain rooted in character: outsiders, unlikely alliances and people attempting to retain some sense of humanity when the world around them becomes increasingly absurd.

His short film Cherubs, starring Richard Sammel, was nominated for Best Short Film at the 2026 Swiss Film Awards, following a successful international festival run that included recognition in Hollywood. The film began an ongoing collaboration with Swiss filmmakers Anna Pieri Zürcher and Pietro Zürcher. In August 2026, his script Dexamene received its (and his) first 8 score on The BlckLst.

McShane currently has several projects moving towards production. A new short has received federal arts funding from Switzerland, while another screenplay is scheduled to begin filming in January 2027. A further feature screenplay, Wet Fish, is under option.

His feature work includes Dexamene, a multilingual period drama set on Lake Geneva in 1928; A Sweet and Fitting Thing, a darkly comic war fable; Prick, a a climate satire about a man who slowly transforms into a cactus; and Distant Hills, a darkly comic road thriller following a retired Swiss schoolteacher and a young Irish woman fleeing across Spain with a bag of stolen cocaine.

Across these very different worlds, recurring concerns emerge: grief and survival, moral ambiguity, class and power, the stories people construct around themselves, and the strange forms of companionship that emerge between people who have otherwise become isolated. His writing frequently places bleak or violent circumstances alongside absurd humour, while landscape — from Lake Geneva and rural England to Derry and the Spanish interior — plays an important part in the emotional life of the films.

Alongside his screenwriting career, McShane works in international education in Switzerland, teaching IB Literature. His life between England, his Irish roots and time living in continental Europe has increasingly shaped a body of work interested in crossing languages, cultures and national borders.

ACCOLADES

  • WET FISH - Winner (Short Script) - Raindance Script Competition (2022)

  • WET FISH - Runner-up (final 3) - HollyShorts Competition (2022)

  • WET FISH - Finalist - Outstanding Screenplays Shorts Competition (2023)

  • SKUNK - Semi-finalist - Filmmatic Comedy Screenplay Awards (Season 7)

  • SKUNK - Semi-finalist - Outstanding Screenplays Shorts Competition (2023)

  • CHERUBS - Nominated (Best Short Film) - Swiss Film Awards (2026)

  • CHERUBS - Winner (Jury Prize) - Beverly Hills Film Festival (2026)

  • CHERUBS - Winner (Best Short by a First-Time Filmmaker) - HollyShorts (2026)

WORK

  • The Pig & Pirate (written in 2016)

  • Cherubs play script (written in 2020)

  • Drop the Ball monologue series (written in 2020)

  • Wet Fish (written in 2022)

  • Skunk (written in 2023)

  • Cherubs film script (written in 2024)

  • Shrublands (written in 2025)

  • Prick (written in 2025)

  • A Sweet and Fitting Thing (written in 2026)

  • Dexamene (written in 2026)

FREELANCE

  • Grave (dialogue and script rewrite, 2023-24)

  • Once Upon a Time in the Alps (dialogue consultant, 2025)

Please contact me directly for projects, freelance work, or to inquire about representation.