John McKay is a Scottish film and television director. His initial career was as a playwright, before he began his film career by directing the short films ''Doom and Gloom'' (1996) and ''Wet and Dry'' (1997). These short films gained McKay some notable acclaim – ''Wet and Dry'' was nominated in the "Best Short Fiction" category at the Molodist International Film Festival in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

in 1997. ''Doom and Gloom'' was also critically recognised, winning a "Special Mention" in the "Youth on Youth Award" category at the 1998

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, ...

, and the "Best European Short Film" prize at the 1999 Brussels International Film Festival. After working on the television series '' Psychos'' for

Kudos Kudos may refer to: Arts and media * ''Kudos'' (computer game), a life simulation game produced by Positech Games * Kudos (production company), a UK-based film and television production company * Kudos, a fictional currency used by the Dwellers ...

and

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

in 1999, he directed his first full-length feature film, '' Crush'', starring

Andie MacDowell Rosalie Anderson MacDowell (born April 21, 1958) is an American actress and former fashion model. MacDowell's known for her starring film roles in romantic comedies and dramas. MacDowell has modeled for Calvin Klein and has been a spokeswoman ...

, Imelda Staunton,

Anna Chancellor Anna Theodora Chancellor (born 27 April 1965) is a British actress who has received nominations for BAFTA and Olivier Awards. Background and early life Chancellor was born in Richmond, England to barrister John Paget Chancellor, eldest son of ...

, and

Kenny Doughty Kenny Doughty is an English actor and director, best known for playing DS Aiden Healy on ITV's Crime Drama '' Vera.'' Early life Doughty was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. He attended Charter School, which became the Kingstone School on B ...

for which he also wrote the screenplay. Released in 2001, ''Crush'' was originally to have been titled ''The Sad Fuckers Club'', 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, and a second feature that McKay had written and was planning to direct at the time, the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

-set ''Knickers'', never eventually saw production. Following ''Crush'' McKay returned to television work, in 2003 directing "The Miller's Tale" and "The Sea Captain's Tale" for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

's updated versions of

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

's '' The Canterbury Tales'', where the events of the stories were transposed to contemporary settings. "The Miller's Tale", which opened the series, proved to be a particular success, with an audience of 7.6 million viewers and a mixed but generally favourable critical reaction. In 2004 McKay returned to the cinema with his second full-length feature, directing

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winning screenwriter

Julian Fellowes Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, (born 17 August 1949) is an English actor, novelist, film director and screenwriter, and a Conservative peer of the House of Lords. He is primarily known as the author of se ...

's adaptation of

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

's novel '' Piccadilly Jim''. McKay then returned once more to television work, and in 2006 directed episodes of two of BBC One's highest-profile new drama series. He helmed the third and fourth instalments of the time travel / police drama series ''

Life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...

'', and later in the year directed the opening two episodes of the channel's new ''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...

'' series. ''Life on Mars'' gained particular critical and popular acclaim, with reviewer

Nancy Banks-Smith Nancy Banks-Smith (born 1929) is a British television and radio critic, who spent most of her career writing for ''The Guardian''. Life and career Born in Manchester and raised in a pub, she was educated at Roedean School. Banks-Smith began her ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' describing McKay's second episode, the series' fourth, as "an inspired take on the usual formula of Gruff Copper of the old school." In 2007 McKay directed ''

Reichenbach Falls The Reichenbach Falls (german: Reichenbachfälle) are a waterfall cascade of seven steps on the stream called Rychenbach in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. They drop over a total height of about . At , the upper falls, known as th ...

'', a 75-minute one-off drama for

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative adva ...

channel BBC Four, adapted by

James Mavor James Mavor (December 8, 1854 – October 31, 1925) was a Scottish-Canadian economist. He served as a Professor of Political Economy of the University of Toronto from 1892 to 1923. His influence upon Canadian economic thought is traced to as la ...

from a short story by

Ian Rankin Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels. Early life Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel, worked in a sch ...

. This was transmitted in March 2007. Another one-off drama for BBC Four, '' We'll Take Manhattan'', about the relationship between model

Jean Shrimpton Jean Rosemary Shrimpton (born 7 November 1942) is an English model and actress. She was an icon of Swinging London and is considered to be one of the world's first supermodels. She appeared on numerous magazine covers including ''Vogue,'' ''Har ...

and photographer David Bailey, was broadcast in January 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. McKay is married, with children.

References

External links