Greg McLean (film director)

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Greg McLean
Greg McLean (cropped).jpg
Greg McLean at the world premiere of The Belko Experiment in 2016
Bornc. 1961
Occupation(s)Director, writer, actor, producer
Years active2001–present

Greg McLean is an Australian film director, producer and writer, principally of horror films. He rose to fame in 2005 with his debut feature film, Wolf Creek , creating the character Mick Taylor (played by John Jarratt). The sequel to his first feature, Wolf Creek 2 was released February 2013. Mclean also wrote, directed and produced Rogue (2007) and was executive producer of Red Hill (2010) and Crawlspace (2012). He is also the co-author of two novels about Mick Taylor; Wolf Creek: Origin (with Aaron Sterns) and Wolf Creek: Desolation Game (with Brett McBean) and the four-part comic book series Dark Axis: Secret Battles of WW2 and the graphic novel Sebastian Hawks – Creature Hunter. In 2016, his film, The Darkness , was released, and a Wolf Creek TV series was released on Australian streaming service Stan.

Contents

Education and career

After training as a fine artist specializing in painting, McLean attended the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), completing a graduate diploma in directing. [1] In his early career he worked with theatre director Neil Armfield, and with Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin at Opera Australia.

McLean's first short film, Plead, won a Gold award from the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS). His short film ICQ screened at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, winning "Best Director of a Short Film". Under his production company GMF (Greg McLean Film), McLean produced television commercials and similar work.

McLean's first full-length film was the 2005 Australian independent horror film Wolf Creek. Reviews were mixed, but it achieved a cult following.[ citation needed ] In the United States, it received an NC-17 rating until being edited to obtain an R rating.[ citation needed ]

Mclean's next film Rogue , in 2007, was about a deadly salt-water crocodile attacking an international group of tourists in Australia's Northern Territory. [2] He was one of the candidates to direct Paranormal Activity 2 . [3] McLean produced the Justin Dix thriller Crawlspace . [4]

In February 2013, McLean returned as co-writer (with Aaron Sterns), producer and director for Wolf Creek 2 , the sequel to Wolf Creek . John Jarratt reprised his role as serial killer Mick Taylor, and co-starred with Ryan Corr.

McLean also joined The Legend of Ben Hall as an Executive Producer in February 2015. [5]

In 2016, McLean directed the poorly received horror film The Darkness .[ citation needed ] His next films were The Belko Experiment and then Jungle .[ citation needed ]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleDirectorProducerWriterNotes
2001ICQYesYesYesShort film
2005 Wolf Creek YesYesYes
2007 Rogue YesYesYes
2013 Wolf Creek 2 YesYesYes
2016 The Darkness YesExecutiveYes
The Belko Experiment YesNoNo
2017 Jungle YesYesNo

Executive producer

Acting roles

YearTitleRole
2005 Wolf Creek Old Man's Body and Police Officer
2015 Tales of Halloween Ray Bishop

Television

YearTitleDirectorExecutive
Producer
WriterNotes
2016-17 Wolf Creek YesYesYes3 episodes
2020 The Gloaming YesNoNo4 episodes [6]
2021-23 La Brea YesNoNo2 episodes

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References

  1. "Wolf Creek production notes" . Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  2. Interview McLean at Really Scary
  3. Steven Zeitchik (25 February 2010). "Possible directors of 'Paranormal Activity 2': Several young genre maestros ... and Brian De Palma". Los Angeles Times.
  4. Steve Barton (9 July 2014). "First Image Found in Justin Dix's Crawlspace". Dread Central.
  5. "If.com.au". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  6. Pickard, Michael. "Doom and Gloam". Drama Quarterly. Retrieved 9 January 2020.