Gary McKendry | |
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| Born | Ballyclare,County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
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Gary McKendry is aNorthern Irish film and television commercial director. His short filmEverything in This Country Must was nominated for anAcademy Award in 2005.
McKendry was born and raised inBallyclare, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He attended theBelfast College of Art for a year before enrolling atCentral Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. Graduating with a degree in art and film, McKendry worked as astoryboard artist in London, before moving to Australia where he worked as an advertisingart director. He was offered a job with the American ad agencyChiat/Day and moved to New York City, where he later worked forOgilvy & Mather and Margeotes Fertitta.[1]
Eventually McKendry branched out on his own, founding the company Go Film and directing award-winning commercials for clients such asIKEA.[2]Porsche,Heineken,NASDAQ,Budweiser andDeBeers.[3] He was interviewed byBBC Radio Ulster after witnessing the11 September attacks in 2001.[4]
McKendry decided to directEverything in This Country Must after reading the novella byColum McCann.[citation needed] He spent much of 2003 shooting the film on location in Northern Ireland.[citation needed] The film was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in the77th Academy Awards, which was won byAndrea Arnold's filmWasp.
McKendry's debut feature film wasKiller Elite, an action thriller based onSir Ranulph Fiennes' fiction novelThe Feather Men. It was filmed in Australia and starredJason Statham,Clive Owen, andRobert De Niro.[5] In 2011, it was announced that McKendry would direct the first film of a three-picture financing deal betweenPalomar Pictures andGrosvenor Park Productions. The film,Joseph and the Girl, will be a remake of the 2010 French heist thrillerJoseph et la Fille.[6]
