Linden grew up in Winter Park, Florida[1] near Orlando, where he attended Lake Howell High School.
"[6] Before Linden became a screenwriter, he worked at Mirage Enterprises as an assistant to directors Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella.
[7] After reading in a 30th anniversary article in FSView & Florida Flambeau, Florida State's student newspaper, about the 1970 Southern Airways Flight 932 plane crash that killed most of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team,[8] Linden says he became "obsessed" with the story.
[9] The film became We Are Marshall, released in 2006 and directed by McG (Joseph McGinty Nichol), founder of Wonderland Sound and Vision.
[8] In 2006, it was reported that Linden was writing a biographical film about Olympic gold medalist downhill skier Bill Johnson to be produced by Basil Iwanyk, as well as an adaptation of The Dogs of Babel to be produced by David Heyman and a television pilot titled Flash Back to be directed by McG.