Toby Wagstaff

Toby Wagstaff is a writer, editor, and script consultant whose work spans storytelling, film, and the evolving frontier of conversational AI. Originally from the United Kingdom, he graduated from the University of Oxford with first-class honors in Philosophy and Modern Languages, specializing in Italian. Now living in New York, Toby unites an academic foundation in analysis with a creative sensibility shaped by years of experience in cinema and narrative design. While at Oxford, Toby spent a formative year abroad in Rome at the Università degli Studi Roma Tre, where he immersed himself in Italian cinema and art history. The city’s visual rhythm, its dialogue between light, architecture, and emotion, left a lasting mark on his creative approach. During that time, he directed a student production of The Importance of Being Earnest, volunteered as a teaching assistant, and tutored English to local students. His interest in the visual arts deepened through photography, capturing the poetic intersections of people and place. After university, Toby entered London’s film industry, working with Studio 8 Productions and Peace Arch Films in script analysis and production coordination. An internship with the BBC’s Monarch of the Glen introduced him to the technical side of filmmaking, from editing and sound mixing to post-production color work. In 2004, Toby joined the feature Shadows in the Sun, starring Harvey Keitel and Joshua Jackson. Shot between Tuscany and London, the film offered him diverse roles, including assistant to the producers, translator, and even on-screen double for the lead actor. Later that year, he moved to the US to become a Creative Executive at Fierce Entertainment, where he contributed to the development of War (starring Jet Li and Jason Statham) and helped expand the company’s international representation business. Toby eventually turned his full attention to screenwriting. His debut spec script, Arena, was optioned by Summit Entertainment in 2008. Since then, his work, ranging from high-stakes thrillers to emotionally resonant dramas, has showcased his hallmark blend of sharp dialogue, cinematic scope, and authentic human insight.