He is best known for having co-written The Weinstein Company's animated film Escape from Planet Earth (2013), The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature (2017), and Nickelodeon's Paw Patrol: The Movie (2021) and Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie (2023), all are in collaboration with his business partner Cal Brunker, who served as the director for these films.

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

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.

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.

[5][6] It was released on August 20, 2021, produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Spin Master, and distributed by Paramount Pictures.