Bob Barlen

Bob Barlen is a Canadian screenwriter and producer. He is best known for turning the hit TV series Paw Patrol into a hit theatrical feature film franchise for Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, and Spin Master. Paw Patrol: The Movie, Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie (2023), and Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie (2026) were all made in collaboration with his creative partner Cal Brunker, who served as the director for these films.

Career Upon graduating from Ryerson University, Barlen attended the Directors' Lab at the Canadian Film Centre.

He co-wrote the screenplay for Escape from Planet Earth, which was released to theaters February 15, 2013.

Barlen produced and co-wrote the sequel The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature, starring Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph and Katherine Heigl, which was theatrically released by Open Road Films on August 11, 2017.

He co-wrote the screenplay for The Son of Bigfoot, a Belgian CGI-animated film, for nWave Pictures that was released in August 2017, and for Arctic Dogs, a Canadian CGI-animated feature film, for AMBI Pictures that was released in November 2019. His next screenplay work is Cranston Academy: Monster Zone, a Mexican-British-Canadian animated horror-comedy film starring Jamie Bell and Ruby Rose, which is produced by Ánima Estudios and Prime Focus World.

On 21 February 2020, following the announcement, Barlen confirmed via his Twitter that he's collaborating with Brunker once more as a co-writer, along with Billy Frolick, for Paw Patrol: The Movie, a film based on the popular Nick Jr. Channel animated series, Paw Patrol. It was released on August 20, 2021, produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Spin Master, and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Filmography Year Title Director Writer Producer Miscellaneous Notes 2002 Deportation at Breakfast Short film 2003 Enrico, Stammi Vicino Short filmCinematographer 2007 Push and Turn Short filmCo-written with David Knobel 2009 Ollie & the Baked Halibut Short filmTitlesFirst collaboration with animator Cal Brunker 2009 Ninjamaica Television film 2013 Escape from Planet Earth Co-written with Cal BrunkerFeature film debut 2017 The Son of Bigfoot Co-written with Cal Brunker 2017 The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature Co-written with Cal Brunker and Scott BindleyVoice of Handsome Mouse 2019 Arctic Dogs Co-written with Matt Lyon, Cal Brunker, Aaron Woodley, and Bryan Thompson 2019 The Puppet Master Short filmCo-written with Cal Brunker 2020 Cranston Academy: Monster Zone Co-written with Cal Brunker 2020 Bigfoot Family Co-written with Cal Brunker; sequel to The Son of Bigfoot 2021 Paw Patrol: The Movie Co-written with Cal Brunker; sequel to Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie; upcoming film TBA Doctor Dolittle: King of the Wild Co-written with Cal Brunker; upcoming film