Mary McGuckian
Encyclopedia
Mary McGuckian is a film director, producer and screenwriter from Northern Ireland
.
Returning to Ireland, she continued to work as an actor and playwright until invited to write screenplays by various producers in the emergent Irish film industry of the early 1990s. At this point, she set up her own company, Pembridge Productions, to develop and produce feature film projects. The company was active as a co-producer on many Irish feature films and also produced three pictures which she wrote and directed. Words Upon the Window Pane
, (adapted from the play by WB Yeats), This Is the Sea
, (an adaptation of her own play 'Hazel' and Best
, (the life story of Northern Irish footballer George Best); all essentially Irish subjects rooted in her cultural heritage.
In 2001, she established Pembridge Pictures in the UK to develop and finance a slate of pictures for a long-term international production strategy by accessing UK tax-incentive based funding in co-production with treaty partners of the UK such as the EU treaty countries and Canada. The first of these to commence principal photography was her adaptation of the Thornton Wilder classic, The Bridge of San Luis Rey
, delivered in May 2004, which shot in Spain.
More lately, she has turned her interest and attention to the exploration of innovative film-making techniques aimed at integrating a more collaborative style of production in order to prioritize performance values with the aim of making contemporary drama more compelling to audiences. Using a combination of modern script styles and extended character development work with collaborating actors who then improvise their own dialogue directly on set, the first film of her 'amorality' trilogy, Rag Tale, was conceived. Allied to the latest in digital photographic and post production technology, her process continues to redefine the conventional linear filmmaking process into a much more integrated and collaborative style of filmmaking as many of the cast and crew of Rag Tale joined her on Intervention in New Mexico in 2006 and on Inconceivable in London and Las Vegas in 2007.
The company of cast and crew which evolved in the making of the trilogy have spent the last year making The Making of Plus One, with Kate, Cate and George, The Story of a Hollywood Nobody'. A sort of 'Plus One' to the 'amorality trilogy', the picture commenced principal photography during The Cannes Film Festival in 2008, which setting explores the incongruous clash of the creative and commercial aspects of independent feature film making. It was completed in May 2009.
The Novelist - is currently in post production starring Eric Roberts’.
The film is called "The Making of Plus One." (Tagline: "The story of a Hollywood Nobody.") It was shot at the Cannes Film Festival last year, and the protagonist is a producer who tries to raise money by attaching celebrities to his film, a spoof on the celebrity worship that dominates this industry.
And as if to sabotage the movie for mocking the crazy deal-making that surrounds the festival, the projector fails twice during the opening minutes.
The movie resumes and portrays its likable characters forced into ugly choices. The imaginary film's director, for instance, is played by a young woman who perfectly captures an air of conflicted acquiescence as her producer sells out her creative options for promises of better funding if he hires "the Kates," Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett.
At the end I leave the theatre, and it's as if I stepped back into the film. Same mass of pedestrians, same Palais, same crowd flashing away at celebrities on the red carpet. But "The Making of Plus One" is a small indie movie, and as I follow the film's actors through crowds to a reception, nobody recognizes them.
At the reception, irony strikes. As people toast a film that mocks celebrity worship, I see a familiar face across the room. It is a distribution expert who advised Suzanne and me almost a year ago in Los Angeles that we'd make a lot more money on our film if we attached a celebrity, either to narrate it or to "present" it.
We haven't done so, but it is not out of principle; it's mostly because we don't know anyone famous. And after that quiet screening we had here, we're thinking of calling around: "Hello, Cate?" We're just as trapped in this business as anyone else.
Then something good happens.
I run into the woman who played the film's director. I give her a postcard of our film and she smiles at the tagline. We talk for a few minutes and eventually I learn that she is not just an actor in an indie film, she is Suzan-Lori Parks, the 2002 Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright for "Topdog/Underdog" She was also the first female African-American playwright to win the Pulitzer.
After the party, I walk past the Palais. The crowds are still there. The people cheer. Strobes flash. I can't see the person they're yelling about. But I'm not interested – I just met Suzan-Lori Parks. I'd give Parks a tagline of her own: "She stayed true to her creativity . . . and she won'...
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
Early life
Born and brought up in Northern Ireland during the 'troubles', Mary McGuckian completed her formal education in the Republic of Ireland at Trinity College Dublin, where she took a degree in engineering. During this time that she became involved with 'Trinity Players', appearing in over 30 productions as well as producing, designing, directing and even lighting various others. She is remembered for her ability to juggle a demanding under-graduate lecture and exams schedule with full-time theatre commitment.Career
Her interest in theatre and politics led her to follow an autodidactic post graduate education in literature, theatre, acting and directing on various courses in London, Paris and Italy. During which time she wrote a number of avant-garde plays and movement pieces which were variously produced in England and Ireland. Most acclaimed was probably her long-running stage adaptation of Brian Merriman's poem, "The Midnight Court".Returning to Ireland, she continued to work as an actor and playwright until invited to write screenplays by various producers in the emergent Irish film industry of the early 1990s. At this point, she set up her own company, Pembridge Productions, to develop and produce feature film projects. The company was active as a co-producer on many Irish feature films and also produced three pictures which she wrote and directed. Words Upon the Window Pane
Words Upon the Window Pane
Words Upon the Window Pane is a 1994 Irish drama film and the directorial debut of Mary McGuckian. The film is based on William Butler Yeats' one-act play of the same name. Pat O'Connor was billed to direct the project but he personally offered McGuckian, who was writing the screenplay at the...
, (adapted from the play by WB Yeats), This Is the Sea
This Is the Sea (film)
This Is the Sea is an Irish film, released in 1997, directed and written by Mary McGuckian and produced by Michael Garland. It is a romance film, focusing on the relationship between the character Hazel Stokes, played by Samantha Morton, and Malachy McAliskey, played by Ross McDade. The two...
, (an adaptation of her own play 'Hazel' and Best
Best (film)
Best is a 2000 British film portraying the football career of the Northern Irish soccer star George Best, particularly his years spent at Manchester United...
, (the life story of Northern Irish footballer George Best); all essentially Irish subjects rooted in her cultural heritage.
In 2001, she established Pembridge Pictures in the UK to develop and finance a slate of pictures for a long-term international production strategy by accessing UK tax-incentive based funding in co-production with treaty partners of the UK such as the EU treaty countries and Canada. The first of these to commence principal photography was her adaptation of the Thornton Wilder classic, The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2004 film)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a 2004 drama film directed by Mary McGuckian and featuring an ensemble cast of American and international actors. It is based on Thornton Wilder's novel of the same name. The film was released in 2004 in Spain and 2005 in the U.S. and abroad...
, delivered in May 2004, which shot in Spain.
More lately, she has turned her interest and attention to the exploration of innovative film-making techniques aimed at integrating a more collaborative style of production in order to prioritize performance values with the aim of making contemporary drama more compelling to audiences. Using a combination of modern script styles and extended character development work with collaborating actors who then improvise their own dialogue directly on set, the first film of her 'amorality' trilogy, Rag Tale, was conceived. Allied to the latest in digital photographic and post production technology, her process continues to redefine the conventional linear filmmaking process into a much more integrated and collaborative style of filmmaking as many of the cast and crew of Rag Tale joined her on Intervention in New Mexico in 2006 and on Inconceivable in London and Las Vegas in 2007.
The company of cast and crew which evolved in the making of the trilogy have spent the last year making The Making of Plus One, with Kate, Cate and George, The Story of a Hollywood Nobody'. A sort of 'Plus One' to the 'amorality trilogy', the picture commenced principal photography during The Cannes Film Festival in 2008, which setting explores the incongruous clash of the creative and commercial aspects of independent feature film making. It was completed in May 2009.
Latest Films
Man on the Train starring Donald Sutherland and Larry Mullen Jr, a remake of the French Patrice LeConte classic, ‘L’Homme du Train’ which will release in the fallThe Novelist - is currently in post production starring Eric Roberts’.
Recent Film
Making of Plus One – A Producer in Cannes Reports -The film is called "The Making of Plus One." (Tagline: "The story of a Hollywood Nobody.") It was shot at the Cannes Film Festival last year, and the protagonist is a producer who tries to raise money by attaching celebrities to his film, a spoof on the celebrity worship that dominates this industry.
And as if to sabotage the movie for mocking the crazy deal-making that surrounds the festival, the projector fails twice during the opening minutes.
The movie resumes and portrays its likable characters forced into ugly choices. The imaginary film's director, for instance, is played by a young woman who perfectly captures an air of conflicted acquiescence as her producer sells out her creative options for promises of better funding if he hires "the Kates," Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett.
At the end I leave the theatre, and it's as if I stepped back into the film. Same mass of pedestrians, same Palais, same crowd flashing away at celebrities on the red carpet. But "The Making of Plus One" is a small indie movie, and as I follow the film's actors through crowds to a reception, nobody recognizes them.
At the reception, irony strikes. As people toast a film that mocks celebrity worship, I see a familiar face across the room. It is a distribution expert who advised Suzanne and me almost a year ago in Los Angeles that we'd make a lot more money on our film if we attached a celebrity, either to narrate it or to "present" it.
We haven't done so, but it is not out of principle; it's mostly because we don't know anyone famous. And after that quiet screening we had here, we're thinking of calling around: "Hello, Cate?" We're just as trapped in this business as anyone else.
Then something good happens.
I run into the woman who played the film's director. I give her a postcard of our film and she smiles at the tagline. We talk for a few minutes and eventually I learn that she is not just an actor in an indie film, she is Suzan-Lori Parks, the 2002 Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright for "Topdog/Underdog" She was also the first female African-American playwright to win the Pulitzer.
After the party, I walk past the Palais. The crowds are still there. The people cheer. Strobes flash. I can't see the person they're yelling about. But I'm not interested – I just met Suzan-Lori Parks. I'd give Parks a tagline of her own: "She stayed true to her creativity . . . and she won'...
Director
- 2011 - The Novelist
- 2010 - Man on the Train
- 2009 - The Making of Plus OneThe Making of Plus OneThe Making of Plus One is a 2010 British-Canadian comedy film about the independent filmmaking industry. The film was set and shot at the Cannes Film Festival and takes a satirical look at the film industry's obsession with celebrity...
- 2008 - InconceivableInconceivable (film)Inconceivable is a 2008 satirical drama about the test-tube baby industry. The film was written and directed by Mary McGuckian.-Plot:Dr. Freeman runs a Las Vegas Assisted Reproductive Technology clinic...
- 2007 - Intervention
- 2005 - Rag Tale
- 2004 - The Bridge of San Luis ReyThe Bridge of San Luis Rey (2004 film)The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a 2004 drama film directed by Mary McGuckian and featuring an ensemble cast of American and international actors. It is based on Thornton Wilder's novel of the same name. The film was released in 2004 in Spain and 2005 in the U.S. and abroad...
- 1999 - BestBest (film)Best is a 2000 British film portraying the football career of the Northern Irish soccer star George Best, particularly his years spent at Manchester United...
- 1996 - This Is the SeaThis Is the Sea (film)This Is the Sea is an Irish film, released in 1997, directed and written by Mary McGuckian and produced by Michael Garland. It is a romance film, focusing on the relationship between the character Hazel Stokes, played by Samantha Morton, and Malachy McAliskey, played by Ross McDade. The two...
- 1995 - Words Upon the Window PaneWords Upon the Window PaneWords Upon the Window Pane is a 1994 Irish drama film and the directorial debut of Mary McGuckian. The film is based on William Butler Yeats' one-act play of the same name. Pat O'Connor was billed to direct the project but he personally offered McGuckian, who was writing the screenplay at the...
Screenwriter
- 2011 - The Novelist
- 2010 - Man on the Train
- 2009 - Making of Plus One
- 2008 - Inconceivable
- 2007 - Intervention
- 2005 - Rag Tale
- 2004 - The Bridge of San Luis Rey
- 1999 - Best
- 1996 - This Is the Sea
- 1995 - Words Upon the Windowpane
Producer
- 2011 - The Novelist
- 2010 - Man on the Train
- 2009 - Making of Plus One
- 2008 - Inconceivable
- 2007 - Intervention
- 2005 - Ragtale
- 2004 - The Bridge of San Luis Rey
- 1999 - Best
- 1996 - This Is the Sea
- 1995 - Words Upon the Windowpane
Actress
- 2000 - Best - (as Norma Charlton)
- 1997 - This Is the Sea - (as Cathy)
- 1990 - After Midnight - ' (as Pianist)