"SPOTLIGHT ON" FILMMAKER NIALL McKAY

niallmckay_1334590869_05Who is Niall McKay?

 

I am an Emmy-winning filmmaker, film curator and the festival director for Irish Film New York. Last year, I was a juror for the Galway Film Festival and was on the shorts’ selection committee for the Tribeca Film Festival.

   

What are you currently working on?

 

Currently, I am working on Irish Film New York, a screening series of contemporary Irish Films at NYU’s Cantor Center and Glucksman Ireland House. I am producing a documentary for PBS on a group of Filipinos who started what became the United Farm Workers Union and I’m writing and directing a comedy series about Irish Artists in New York called On The Ligg.

 

What honors have you received for your filmmaking?

 

I have received an Emmy for a film called Sikhs in America  and was nominated for a 2009 Irish Film and Television Academy Award for a documentary about my father called The Bass Player which screened on RTE Television in Ireland.

 

Do you have an upcoming event or showing you’d like people to attend?

 

Muhammad AliI would love you all to attend IFNYlogo whiteonred small-1 Irish Film New York. We have a wonderful opening night party at Glucksman Ireland House on Friday Oct 3rd at 5.30pm followed by Oscar Nominee Steph Green’s first feature, Run & Jump at 7.30pm

  

Who are the filmmakers you admire?

 

I admire anybody who can finish a film. It’s the hardest thing you’ll ever do. But personally, my creative muse is the love child of Billy Wilder, the Dardenne brothers, and Jim Sheridan. Films that make you laugh, make you cry and keep you guessing. Guy Hamilton’s version of An Inspector Calls (1954) starring Alastair Sims was a film that I saw as an 8 year old. I’ve never seen it since but it’s probably my motivation for being a filmmaker.

 

Who or what is your greatest inspiration and why?

 

niallphoto-1.JPGMy eighty-four year old father, Corny, an Irish Jazz bassist. Corny brought up two kids on his own under very challenging circumstances and managed to keep true to his art. In fact, he still plays every Sunday at Sweeney’s Hotel on Dame Street in Dublin. 

 

What are the top five things you’d like to accomplish in the next five years?

 

I’d like to make a family, make a feature film  and make a living. That’s enough for me.

 

Irish Film New York

 

Niall McKay Facebook Page

 

Niall McKay’s Website