John McKay (director)

John McKay (born 1965) is a Scottish film and television director.{{cite web|url=http://iparenting.com/dad/0802.htm|title=Dad of the Month: John McKay|first=Elisa|last=Ast All|publisher=iParenting.com|date=August 2002|accessdate=7 January 2007|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061018200224/http://iparenting.com/dad/0802.htm|archivedate=18 October 2006|df=dmy-all}} His initial career was as a playwright,{{cite web|url=http://www.filmfreakcentral.net/notes/mckay.htm|title=McKay While the Sun Shines|first=Walter|last=Chaw|publisher=Film Freak Central|date=17 April 2002|accessdate=7 January 2007|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070114190937/http://filmfreakcentral.net/notes/mckay.htm|archivedate=14 January 2007|df=dmy-all}} before he began his film career by directing the short films Doom and Gloom (1996) and Wet and Dry (1997).

Career

McKay's short films brought him some notable early acclaim: Wet and Dry was nominated in the "Best Short Fiction" category at the Molodist International Film Festival in Kyiv in 1997,{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0563814/awards|title=Awards for John McKay (IV)|publisher=Internet Movie Database|accessdate=7 January 2007}} Doom and Gloom won a "Special Mention" in the "Youth on Youth Award" category at the 1998 Locarno International Film Festival, and the "Best European Short Film" prize at the 1999 Brussels International Film Festival.

After working on the television series Psychos for Kudos and Channel 4 in 1999, he directed his first full-length feature film, Crush, starring Andie MacDowell, Imelda Staunton, Anna Chancellor, and Kenny Doughty for which he also wrote the screenplay. Released in 2001, the film was originally to have been titled The Sad Fuckers Club,{{cite news|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,720778,00.html|title=Filming and f***ing|first=John|last=McKay|publisher=The Guardian|date=24 May 2002|accessdate=7 January 2007}} but this was changed after resistance from the producers and distributors and uneasiness on the part of test audiences. Crush met with a generally negative critical reaction,{{cite web|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/Film_Page/0,,540874,00.html|title=Crush|publisher=Guardian Unlimited|accessdate=7 January 2007}} and a second feature that McKay had written and was planning to direct, the World War II-set Knickers, never saw production.

Following Crush McKay returned to television, in 2003 directing "The Miller's Tale" and "The Sea Captain's Tale" for BBC One's updated versions of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, where the events of the stories were transposed to contemporary settings.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2003/08_august/06/canterbury_tales.shtml|title=BBC – Press Office – The Canterbury Tales|publisher=bbc.co.uk|date=6 August 2003|accessdate=7 January 2007}} "The Miller's Tale", which opened the series, proved to be a particular success, with an audience of 7.6 million viewers{{cite web|url=http://media.guardian.co.uk/overnights/story/0,,1040731,00.html|title=Miller's Tale is a success story for BBC1|first=Claire|last=Cozens|publisher=Guardian Unlimited|format=Requires free registration|date=12 September 2003|accessdate=7 January 2007}} and a mixed but generally favourable critical reaction.{{cite web|url=http://media.guardian.co.uk/firstnight/story/0,11131,1040677,00.html|title=The Canterbury Tales|publisher=Guardian Unlimited|format=Requires free registration|date=12 September 2003|accessdate=7 January 2007}} In 2004 McKay returned to the cinema with his second full-length feature, directing Academy Award-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes's adaptation of P. G. Wodehouse's novel Piccadilly Jim.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371878/|title=Piccadilly Jim (2004)|publisher=Internet Movie Database|accessdate=7 January 2007}}

He continued to direct for television, in 2006 helming the third and fourth instalments of the time travel/police drama series Life on Mars.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/12_december/08/mars.shtml|title=BBC – Press Office – Life on Mars press pack|publisher=bbc.co.uk|date=8 December 2005|accessdate=7 January 2007}} Life on Mars gained particular critical and popular acclaim, with reviewer Nancy Banks-Smith of The Guardian describing McKay's second episode, the series' fourth, as "an inspired take on the usual formula of Gruff Copper of the old school."{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv_and_radio/story/0,,1698510,00.html|title=Last night's TV|first=Nancy|last=Banks-Smith|authorlink=Nancy Banks-Smith|publisher=The Guardian|date=31 January 2006|accessdate=7 January 2007}} Later that same year he directed the opening two episodes of the channel's new Robin Hood series.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0787985/|title=Robin Hood (2006)|publisher=Internet Movie Database|accessdate=7 January 2007}}

In 2007 McKay directed Reichenbach Falls, a 75-minute one-off drama for digital television channel BBC Four, adapted by James Mavor from a short story by Ian Rankin.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/09_september/06/acid.shtml|title=BBC – Press Office – The Acid Test|publisher=bbc.co.uk|date=6 September 2006|accessdate=7 January 2007}} Another one-off drama for BBC Four, We'll Take Manhattan, about the relationship between model Jean Shrimpton and photographer David Bailey, was broadcast in January 2012.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b674s|title=BBC Four – We'll Take Manhattan|publisher=BBC.co.uk|accessdate=4 February 2012}} McKay both wrote and directed We'll Take Manhattan. His third full-length feature film, Not Another Happy Ending, from a script by David Solomons, was released in 2013.

Personal life

McKay is married, with children.

References

External links

{{IMDb name|id=0563814|name=John McKay}}
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/08/22/john_mckay_interview.shtml Crush-related interview from 2001] at bbc.co.uk

Category:Scottish film directors

Category:Scottish television directors

Category:Scottish screenwriters

Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)