Brian McGinn | |
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Born | Palo Alto, California | October 12, 1984
Education | Palo Alto High School |
Alma mater | Duke University |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2012–present |
Brian McGinn (born December 10, 1984) is an American TV and film director, writer, producer and showrunner.
Brian McGinn was born in Palo Alto, California, on December 10, 1984.[1] His mother was an art history librarian[2] and his father an ethics and technology professor from Stanford.[1] He attended Palo Alto High School[3] and Duke University,[4] where he got in 2007 a degree in English and a certificate in the Film/Video/Digital Program.[5]
His first directing, producing and writing credits were on the short films Llamas for Ken (2007) and The Frozen City (2008) -which received an honorable mention at the 2009 Cleveland International Film Festival-[4] and Carry (2009).[6][7]
Between 2011 and 2014 he directed a series viral videos for the comedy video website and film and television production company Funny or Die starring Dave Franco, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Alison Brie[8][9][10] as well as Funny or Die’s HBO 2015 special Ferrell Takes The Field starring Will Ferrell.[11]
In 2011, he codirected with Vanessa Roth the documentary film American Teacher[12] and in 2012 he wrote and directed The Record Breaker,[13] a short film about Ashrita Furman, the man who has the most Guinness World Records of all time.[14] The documentary won awards at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival,[15] the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, the Palm Springs International ShortFest,[16] the Cleveland International Film Festival and the New Orleans Film Festival.[17]
Since 2015 he is one of the executive producers and directors of Netflix’s documentary series Chef’s Table,[18][19] which gave him three nominations to the Emmy Awards.[20] He got other two Emmy nominations[20] for the Netflix documentary Amanda Knox, which he has produced, written and directed.[21]
Along with David Gelb, his partner in the production company Supper Club with Jason Sterman,[22][23] McGinn is one of the executive producers of the Netflix series Street Food.[24][25]
In 2019 he produced the film Machine –a documentary about Artificial Intelligence–[26] and in 2020 he produced the Netflix show Trial By Media, where he also directed a chapter.[27]
As executive producer, he was behind several Disney+ original documentaries such as Marvel's 616, People & Places –a revival of a show originally aired in the ‘50s and ‘60s-, A Spark Story, More Than Robots and Earthkeepers.[28][29][30][31][32][33]
He also was the producer of the Disney+ documentary films Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return,[34] Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U[35] and Wolfgang. He is also the writer of the latter film about the chef Wolfgang Puck.[36]
Year | Award | Result | Category | Work |
---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | Jury Award - Palm Springs International ShortFest[37] | Winner | Best documentary | The Record Breaker |
2012 | SXSW Grand Jury Award - SXSW Film Festival[38] | Nominee | Narrative Short | Would You |
2013 | Grand Jury Award - New Orleans Film Festival[39] | Winner | Documentary Short | The Record Breaker |
2013 | The Spalding and Jackson Award: In Celebration of Joy - Cleveland International Film Festival[40] | Winner | Honorable Mention | The Record Breaker |
2013 | Full Frame Documentary Film Festival[41] | Winner | Audience Award | The Record Breaker |
2014 | Big Sky Documentary Film Festival[42] | Winner | Best Short Documentary | The Record Breaker |
2015 | International Documentary Association[43] | Winner | Best Episodic Series | Chef's Table |
2016 | International Documentary Association[44] | Nominee | Best Episodic Series | Chef's Table |
2016 | Critics' Choice Documentary Award[45] | Nominee | Best Director (TV/Streaming) | Amanda Knox |
2016 | Primetime Emmy Awards[46] | Nominee | Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series | Chef's Table |
2017 | International Documentary Association[47] | Nominee | Best Episodic Series | Chef's Table |
2017 | Webby Awards and Webby People’s Voice Award[48] | Winner | Best Food & Drink Video and the Webby Award for Best Documentary: Series (Film & Video) | Chef's Table |
2017 | Primetime Emmy Awards[49] | Nominee | Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special | Amanda Knox |
2017 | Primetime Emmy Awards[49] | Nominee | Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming | Amanda Knox |
2017 | Primetime Emmy Awards[50] | Nominee | Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series | Chef's Table |
2017 | Danish Film Academy (Robert Awards)[51] | Nominee | Best Documentary | Amanda Knox |
2019 | Primetime Emmy Awards[50] | Nominee | Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series | Chef's Table |