Adam McKay (born April 17, 1968) is an American filmmaker and comedian. McKay began his career in the 1990s as a head writer for the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) for two seasons and is the co-founder of the Upright Citizens Brigade. He rose to fame in the 2000s for his collaborations with comedian Will Ferrell and co-wrote his comedy films Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and The Other Guys. Ferrell and McKay later co-wrote and co-produced numerous television series and films, and produced their comedy website Funny or Die through their company Gary Sanchez Productions.

أدم مكاي
Adam McKay-7784 (cropped).jpg
McKay in 2019
وُلِدَ17 أبريل 1968 (العمر 56 سنة)
التعليمPennsylvania State University
Temple University
المهنة
سنوات النشاط1986–present
العمل البارز
الزوجShira Piven (ز. 1999)
الأنجال2
الأقاربJeremy Piven (brother-in-law)

McKay began venturing into more dramatic territory in the 2010s. The Big Short was McKay's first film he directed without Ferrell in the cast. For this film, he was nominated for several awards including two Academy Awards, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay (with co-writer Charles Randolph), and two British Academy Film Awards, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. He and Randolph won Best Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards, the BAFTA Film Awards, and the WGA Awards.[1][2][3] For his work on the Dick Cheney biographical film Vice, McKay received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. In 2019, McKay founded Hyperobject Industries.

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Early life

McKay was born in 1968 in Denver, Colorado and was raised in Worcester, Massachusetts[4] and then Malvern, Pennsylvania[5] by a waitress mother, Sarah, and a musician father.[6][7] When McKay was seven, his parents divorced.[6] He attended Great Valley High School in Malvern, where he graduated in 1986. He then attended Pennsylvania State University for a year before transferring to Temple University, where he majored in English. McKay dropped out of Temple a semester-and-a-half before he was set to earn his bachelor's degree. He described it as "settling with an imaginary degree".[8]

He is one of the founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade improv comedy group and a former performer at Chicago's ImprovOlympic, where he was a member of the improv group, The Family, whose members included Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Neil Flynn, Miles Stroth, and Ali Farahnakian, as well as Child's Play Touring Theatre.[6] While a member of the mainstage cast at Second City, he wrote and performed in that company's landmark revue, Pinata Full of Bees. In several politically charged sketches, McKay played characters like Noam Chomsky as a substitute kindergarten teacher, and a hapless personnel manager trying to inform a corporate vice president (Scott Adsit) of some disastrous IQ test results without losing his own job. The latter performance was excerpted in Second City's 40th anniversary compilation.[بحاجة لمصدر]


Career

Writing, acting, and producing

McKay originally auditioned for Saturday Night Live to be an onscreen performer, but did not make the cut. However, the scripts he submitted earned him a job as a writer from 1995, and within a year McKay became head writer at age 27, a position he held until 2001.[9] He also directed a number of short films for the show, including the original SNL Digital Shorts.[10] McKay encouraged his Second City friend Tina Fey to submit some of her scripts to Saturday Night Live, and she later succeeded him as head writer.[11] Though McKay was never an actual SNL cast member, he did make several on-camera appearances over the years and had a recurring role as an obnoxious audience member "Keith" who would often shout insults at the celebrity hosts during their opening monologue.[12]

Shortly after leaving SNL, McKay teamed up with comedian Will Ferrell to form Gary Sanchez Productions and write the comedy films Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), Step Brothers (2008), and The Other Guys (2010), all of which he also directed, produced and made cameo appearances in as an actor. Ferrell and McKay co-produce the HBO series Eastbound & Down.[13]

McKay was one of the writers for the film The Campaign (2012), and produced the film Daddy's Home (2015), the latter of which reunited The Other Guys stars Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, and was directed by Sean Anders. McKay wrote the screenplay for and directed The Big Short (2015), the film adaptation of Michael Lewis' book of the same name about the financial and subprime mortgage crisis of 2007-2008,[14] and the build-up of the financial and credit bubble; the film starred Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, Melissa Leo, Marisa Tomei, and Byron Mann. McKay rewrote the script for the Marvel Studios feature film Ant-Man, directed by Peyton Reed.[15] McKay also worked with Reed, Paul Rudd, Gabriel Ferrari & Andrew Barrer on Ant-Man and the Wasp to flesh out the story.[16] He has also expressed interest in helming a Silver Surfer movie for Marvel Studios.[17]

He produced the films Land of the Lost (2009), The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009), The Virginity Hit (2010), Casa de Mi Padre (2012), Bachelorette (2012), Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012), The Campaign (2012), Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), Tammy (2014), Welcome to Me (2014), Get Hard (2015), Sleeping with Other People (2015), Daddy's Home (2015), and The Boss (2016).

In addition to Eastbound & Down, McKay has produced the TV series Big Lake and Succession, whose pilot he directed, and the miniseries The Spoils of Babylon, and The Chris Gethard Show.

In April 2019, McKay and Ferrell announced that they were separating as producing partners but would continue producing all projects currently in development or in production at Gary Sanchez Productions.[18]

In 2019, McKay launched a new production company, Hyperobject Industries, which has a first look overall TV deal with HBO and a first look feature deal at Paramount Pictures. Hyperobject Industries’ first TV project was an HBO pilot based on Jeff Pearlman's non-fiction book ‘Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s.’ McKay directed the pilot.[19][20] More recently, McKay's Hyperobject Industries has a first look deal with Apple.[21]

Directing

McKay has directed, and co-written with Will Ferrell, the films Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), Step Brothers (2008), The Other Guys (2010), and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013). He has directed an "alternate film" about Ron Burgundy that is considered a companion to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) entitled Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie (2004), which is made up mostly of alternative takes, deleted scenes, and scrapped sub-plots from the original film strung together with a narrative.

McKay directed and co-wrote with Ferrell the George W. Bush Broadway show You're Welcome America. He produced the horror-action film Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.[22]

McKay directed the TV movie documentary Lifecasters (2013). He has directed a number of short films, including digital shorts for Saturday Night Live, and the short video "Good Cop, Baby Cop" for Funny or Die that stars his daughter Pearl. Among the other short films he has directed include The Procedure (2007) starring Will Ferrell, Willem Dafoe, and Andy Richter, Green Team (2008) starring Ferrell, John C. Reilly, and himself, and the K-Swiss commercial, Kenny Powers: The K-Swiss MFCEO (2011), starring Danny McBride as Kenny Powers from Eastbound & Down, which he co-produces with Ferrell and has also directed an episode of.

He directed and wrote the film adaptation of the Michael Lewis non-fiction book The Big Short, released in 2015. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work in the film, winning his first Academy Award in the latter category. In 2016, he and co-writer Charles Randolph received the USC Scripter Award for their screenplay.

In 2016, he became attached to the superhero film Irredeemable based on the comic of the same name by Mark Waid.[23]

In November 2016, McKay began development of the biographical black comedy Backseat, about former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and his rise to power, though the title was eventually changed to Vice.[24][25] Starring Christian Bale as Cheney, the film was released in the United States on December 25, 2018 by Annapurna Pictures.[25] Despite polarizing reviews,[26] Vice received eight nominations at the 91st Academy Awards, including the Best Picture and McKay's second nomination for Best Director, and won for Best Make-Up and Hairstyling.[27]

McKay will work with Jennifer Lawrence for a biographical film titled Bad Blood which tells the story of entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, based on the book Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. It is in development and will be produced by Legendary Pictures and released by Universal Pictures.[28][29][30] Vanessa Taylor is writing the script.[31] In December 2021, the project was picked up by Apple Studios, with McKay now writing.[32]

McKay's most recent film is a comedy, Don't Look Up, about two low level scientists trying to convince the world that a catastrophic meteor is incoming. McKay wrote the script and produced the film for Netflix. Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Meryl Streep, and Cate Blanchett star in the film.[33][34][35] It received a limited theatrical release in December 2021, before streaming on Netflix later in the month.[36] In December 2021, McKay was tapped to write and direct drama film Bad Blood based on the 2018 book Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Start Up by John Carreyrou and starring Jennifer Lawrence.[37]

Funny or Die

In 2007, McKay and Ferrell launched the user-submitted comedy video site Funny or Die. A video on the site, titled The Landlord,[38] features both him and his young daughter, Pearl, whom Ferrell and his wife bait to say curse words. Pearl also starred in a second video titled Good Cop, Baby Cop.

Podcasting

From November 2015 until October 2016, McKay hosted the science/comedy podcast Surprisingly Awesome with Adam Davidson, produced by Gimlet Media.[39] McKay additionally produced “Broken: Jeffrey Epstein” and “Broken: Seeking Justice,” a podcast series that explored the Jeffrey Epstein case. His next podcast project, Death at the Wing, investigated a series of deaths among high-profile young basketball players in the 1980s and 1990s.[40][41] [42]

Personal life

In 1999, he married Shira Piven, a film and television director.[43] They have two daughters, Lili Rose and Pearl.[2] His brother-in-law is actor Jeremy Piven.

McKay serves on the Creative Council of RepresentUs, a nonpartisan anti-corruption organization.[44] He is a supporter of the Democratic Party and endorsed Bernie Sanders for President of the United States in 2016 and again in 2020.[45][46][47] He identifies as a democratic socialist.[48]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Credit
Director Writer Producer
2004 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy نعم نعم لا
Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie نعم نعم لا
2006 Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby نعم نعم executive
2008 Step Brothers نعم نعم executive
2010 The Other Guys نعم نعم نعم
2012 The Campaign لا Story نعم
2013 Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues نعم نعم نعم
2015 Get Hard لا Story نعم
Ant-Man لا نعم لا
The Big Short نعم نعم لا
2018 Vice نعم نعم نعم
2021 Don't Look Up نعم نعم نعم
TBA Bad Blood[49] نعم نعم نعم

Producer only

Executive producer only

Acting roles
Year Title Role
2002 God Hates Cartoons Uncle Gabby
2003 Pushing Tom The Boss
Felicia and the Great Quebec Big Dick Cash
2004 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy Custodian
Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie
2006 Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Terry Cheveaux
2008 Step Brothers Man without Glasses
2010 The Other Guys Dirty Mike


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Television

Year Title Credit Notes
Director Executive
producer
Writer Actor
1995–2001 Saturday Night Live نعم لا نعم نعم Also credited as "Coordinator of Falconry"[50]
2007 Human Giant لا لا لا نعم Role: Alan Harkett (voice)
Episode: "24 Hour Marathon"
2009–2013 Eastbound & Down نعم نعم لا لا Directed episode: "Chapter 5"
2010–2011 Funny or Die Presents نعم نعم نعم لا
2013 Lifecasters نعم لا لا لا Television documentary
2018–present Succession نعم نعم لا لا Directed episode: "Celebration"
2022 Winning Time نعم نعم لا لا

Executive producer only

Year Title Notes
2010 Big Lake
2013–2019 Drunk History
2014 The Spoils of Babylon
2014–2015 Bad Judge
2015 The Spoils Before Dying
A Deadly Adoption Television film
2015–2017 The Chris Gethard Show
2017–2018 I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman
2017–2019 I'm Sorry
2017–present No Activity
2018 LA to Vegas
2019 Live in Front of a Studio Audience Television specials
2019–present Dead to Me
2020 Robbie
2020–present Motherland: Fort Salem
2021 Q: Into the Storm Television documentary

Web

Year Title Credit Notes
Director Producer Writer Actor
2007 The Procedure نعم نعم نعم لا
The Landlord لا نعم نعم نعم Role: Friend
Good Cop, Baby Cop نعم نعم نعم نعم Role: Policeman
2008 Green Team نعم نعم نعم نعم Role: Erin Gossamer
Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad لا نعم نعم لا
Ron Howard's Call to Action لا نعم نعم لا
2008–2016 Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis لا لا نعم لا
2010 Presidential Reunion لا لا نعم لا
Will Ferrell's NYPD Recruitment Video لا لا نعم لا
2011 A Public Statement from Anthony Weiner's Penis لا لا نعم لا
2014 COPS: Ferguson لا لا نعم لا
2015 Mexican Donald Trump لا لا نعم لا
2017 The President's Sun لا لا نعم لا

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ^ "WGA Awards: Adam McKay to Receive Paul Selvin Award". The Hollywood Reporter (in الإنجليزية). Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  2. ^ أ ب McNary, Dave (2016-02-29). "Oscars: 'The Big Short's' Adam McKay Blasts Candidates Taking Money From Banks". Variety (in الإنجليزية). Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  3. ^ "Adapted Screenplay - The Big Short". bafta.org (in الإنجليزية). 2016-01-06. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  4. ^ Semon, Craig (December 2, 2020). "Welcome home: Adam McKay, director of Netflix's 'Don't Look Up,' grew up in Worcester". Worcester Telegram (in english). Retrieved October 6, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  5. ^ Santoliquito, Joseph (February 26, 2016). "How Adam McKay went from Temple dropout to Oscar nominee". PhillyVoice (in english). Retrieved September 17, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  6. ^ أ ب ت "Men in Blue, Under Arrested Adolescence". The New York Times. August 1, 2010. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  7. ^ "'The Other Guys' mothers take over in special Mom-entary". Entertainment Weekly.
  8. ^ Maehrer, Avery (December 12, 2013). "Anchorman director Adam McKay reflects on Philly past". The Temple News. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
  9. ^ Weiner, Jonah (29 November 2018). "Why the Director of 'Anchorman' Decided to Take On Dick Cheney". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  10. ^ Hutton, Ryan (24 April 2015). "Chapter 9: I'm Kinda a Big Deal". Will Ferrell - Staying Classy: The Biography. Kings Road Publishing. ISBN 978-1784180362.
  11. ^ Schofner, Melissa Rae; Friedman, Lauri S. (2016). Tina Fey: Queen of Comedy. Greenhaven Publishing, LLC. p. 26. ISBN 978-1534560345.
  12. ^ "Adam McKay". IMDb. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  13. ^ Hotz, Amy (October 21, 2008). "StarNewsOnline.com". StarNewsOnline.com. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  14. ^ Lam, Bourree; White, Gillian B. (17 December 2015). "Learning Finance via The Big Short". The Atlantic. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  15. ^ Gajewski, Ryan (19 October 2014). "Adam McKay Reveals the Changes He Made to 'Ant-Man' Script". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  16. ^ Perry, Spencer (April 12, 2016). "Peyton Reed: Ant-Man and the Wasp Will Feature Things 'Never Seen in a Movie Before'". ComingSoon. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  17. ^ Davids, Brian (20 December 2018). "'Vice' Director Adam McKay Is Interested in a 'Silver Surfer' Movie".
  18. ^ McNary, Dave (6 April 2019). "Will Ferrell, Adam McKay to End Production Partnership". Variety. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  19. ^ Petski, Denise (6 December 2019). "Adam McKay's L.A. Lakers Project Gets Series Order At HBO". Deadline. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  20. ^ Welk, Brian (8 November 2019). "Adam McKay and Hyperobject Industries Sign First Look Deal With Paramount". The Wrap. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  21. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (2021-07-15). "Apple Sets Adam McKay's Hyperobject Industries In Multi-Year First Look Movie Deal". Deadline (in الإنجليزية الأمريكية). Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  22. ^ "'Twilight' Stars Offered Roles in 'Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters', Bloody-Disgusting.com
  23. ^ Fleming, Mike, Jr. (May 5, 2016). "20th Century Fox Taps BOOM! Superhero Tale 'Irredeemable'; Adam McKay Helms, Tommy Wirkola Scripting". Retrieved September 14, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (November 22, 2016). "Adam McKay To Direct Dick Cheney Movie At Paramount". Deadline Hollywood. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  25. ^ أ ب D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 28, 2018). "Adam McKay's Dick Cheney Project Now Titled 'Vice'; Will Go Wide On Christmas Day". Deadline Hollywood. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  26. ^ Nickolai, Nate (December 17, 2018). "'Vice' Reviews: What the Critics Are Saying". Variety. New York City. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  27. ^ France, Lisa Respers (January 22, 2019). "Oscars 2019: See who's nominated". CNN. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  28. ^ Jaafar, Ali; Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 21, 2016). "'Bad Blood' Bids Mobilize for Jennifer Lawrence-Adam McKay Package: 9 Offers". Deadline. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  29. ^ "Elizabeth Holmes Movie to Star Jennifer Lawrence". ComingSoon.net. June 9, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  30. ^ Jaafar, Ali; Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 23, 2016). "Legendary Wins Jennifer Lawrence-Adam McKay 'Bad Blood' Auction". Deadline. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  31. ^ Nicolaou, Elena. "Everything We Know About The Bad Blood Movie". refinery29.com.
  32. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (December 7, 2021). "Apple Confirms Long In Works 'Bad Blood' Transfusion; 'Don't Look Up's Adam McKay Directs & Jennifer Lawrence Plays Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  33. ^ "Jennifer Lawrence to Star in Adam McKay Comedy 'Don't Look Up'". The Hollywood Reporter (in الإنجليزية). Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  34. ^ "Cate Blanchett Joins James Gray, Adam McKay's Next Films (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety (in الإنجليزية). Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  35. ^ Kroll, Justin (October 14, 2020). "Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Cate Blanchett, Others Join Jennifer Lawrence In Netflix's 'Don't Look Up' For Adam McKay". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 14, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  36. ^ Brockington, Ariana (August 23, 2021). "Netflix Reveals Premiere Dates for Adam McKay's 'Don't Look Up,' Sandra Bullock Starrer 'The Unforgivable,' More Fall Movies". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  37. ^ Lang, Brent (December 7, 2021). "Apple, Adam McKay, Jennifer Lawrence Team on Elizabeth Holmes Movie 'Bad Blood'". Variety.
  38. ^ "Will Ferrell and Pearl in The Landlord". Archived from the original on August 10, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  39. ^ "New Podcast: Surprisingly Awesome". Gimlet Media. Archived from the original on November 19, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  40. ^ Sisario, Ben (4 September 2019). "A Podcast From Adam McKay Examines Jeffrey Epstein and His World". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  41. ^ Holmes, Dave (16 September 2020). "What We're Going Through Is Incomprehensible. That's Never Stopped Adam McKay". Esquire. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  42. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (31 March 2021). "Adam McKay Hosts Docu Podcast Series 'Death At The Wing,' On Deaths Of Rising Hoop Stars Intertwined With Reagan Era Policies".
  43. ^ Adam McKay. Retrieved 11 May 2020. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |website= ignored (help)
  44. ^ "About | Represent. Us" (in الإنجليزية الأمريكية). Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  45. ^ Johnson, Ted (September 18, 2015). "Will Ferrell Among Bernie Sanders Celeb Supporters". Variety. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  46. ^ "Artists for Bernie – Bernie Sanders". Archived from the original on يناير 4, 2016. Retrieved مارس 24, 2016.
  47. ^ McKay, Adam [@GhostPanther] (February 19, 2019). "Join me in volunteering to help @BernieSanders secure the democratic nomination & become president. You don't have to give $, sweat is worth more. You'll have fun winning #MedicareForAll & stopping capitalist wars. Sign up:" (Tweet). Retrieved February 21, 2019 – via Twitter. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  48. ^ McKay, Adam (November 3, 2017). "I consider myself a Democratic socialist. Always have". @ghostpanther (in الإنجليزية).[بحاجة لمصدر غير رئيسي]
  49. ^ Fleming, Mike, Jr. (May 14, 2018). "'Shape Of Water's Vanessa Taylor To Script Theranos Scandal Pic 'Bad Blood' For Adam McKay & Jennifer Lawrence". Deadline (in الإنجليزية). Retrieved February 27, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  50. ^ Hirschberg, Lynn. "Adam McKay: Funny, with a Chance of Politics". W Magazine. Retrieved 9 November 2021.

External links