Gary McKendry is a Northern Irish

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...

 film and television commercial director. His short film Everything in This Country Must was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005.

McKendry was born and raised in Ballyclare

Ballyclare

Ballyclare is a small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,770 people in the 2001 Census...

, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He attended the Belfast College of Art

University of Ulster

The University of Ulster is a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Northern Ireland. It is the largest single university in Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland...

 for a year before enrolling at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. The school has an outstanding international reputation, and is considered one of the world's leading art and design institutions...

 in London. Graduating with a degree in art and film, McKendry worked as a storyboard artist

Storyboard artist

Storyboard artist is a profession specialized in creating storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions.A storyboard artist is able to visualize any stories using quick sketches on paper at any moment...

 in London, before moving to Australia where he worked as an advertising art director

Art director

The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....

. He was offered a job with the American ad agency Chiat/Day and moved to New York City, where he later worked for Ogilvy & Mather

Ogilvy & Mather

Ogilvy & Mather is an international advertising, marketing and public relations agency based in Manhattan and owned by the WPP Group. The company operates 497 offices in 125 countries with approximately 16,000 employees.-History:...

 and Margeotes Fertitta.

Eventually McKendry branched out on his own, founding the company Go Film and directing award-winning commercials for clients such as IKEA

IKEA

IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...

. Porsche

Porsche

Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....

, Heineken

Heineken

Heineken is a Dutch beer which has been brewed by Heineken International since 1873. It is available in a 4.6% alcohol variety in countries such as Ireland. It is the flagship product of the Heineken company and is made of purified water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. In 1886 H...

, NASDAQ

NASDAQ

The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...

, Budweiser

Budweiser

Budweiser is a German adjective describing something or someone from the city of České Budějovice in Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic.Beer brewing in České Budějovice dates back to the 13th century...

 and DeBeers. He was interviewed by BBC Radio Ulster

BBC Radio Ulster

BBC Radio Ulster is one of two Northern Irish BBC radio stations, the other being BBC Radio Foyle located in the city of Derry. BBC Radio Ulster is located at Broadcasting House in the Ormeau Avenue area of Belfast city centre...

 after witnessing the 11 September attacks in 2001.

McKendry decided to direct Everything in This Country Must after reading the novella by Colum McCann

Colum McCann

Colum McCann is an Irish writer of literary fiction. He is a Professor of Contemporary Literature at European Graduate School and Professor of Fiction at CUNY Hunter College's Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing with fellow novelists Peter Carey, twice winner of the Man Booker Prize,...

. He spent much of 2003 shooting the film on location in Northern Ireland. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film

Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film

This name for the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film was introduced in 1974. For the three preceding years it was known as "Short Subjects, Live Action Films." The term "Short Subjects, Live Action Subjects" was used from 1957 until 1970. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate...

 in the 77th Academy Awards

77th Academy Awards

The 77th Academy Awards honored the best films of 2004 and were held on February 27, 2005, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. They were hosted by comedian Chris Rock.The nominees were announced on January 25, 2005...

, which was won by Andrea Arnold

Andrea Arnold

Andrea Arnold OBE is a filmmaker and former actress from England, who made her feature film directorial debut in 2006 with Red Road.-Early TV work:...

's film Wasp

Wasp (film)

Wasp is a short film written and directed by Andrea Arnold. Released in 2003, it stars Nathalie Press as a struggling single mother determined not to let her four young children prove an obstacle in the pursuit of rekindling a relationship with an old ex-boyfriend Danny Dyer...

.

McKendry's debut feature film was Killer Elite, an action thriller based on Sir Ranulph Fiennes

Ranulph Fiennes

Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet, OBE , better known as Ranulph Fiennes, is a British adventurer and holder of several endurance records. He is also a prolific writer. Fiennes served in the British Army for eight years including a period on counter-insurgency service while...

' fiction novel The Feather Men

The Feather Men

The Feather Men is a 1991 novel by the British adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.-Plot introduction:The book tells the story of four British Army soldiers, including two members of the Special Air Service, who are assassinated by a hit squad known as "The Clinic"...

. It was filmed in Australia and starred Jason Statham

Jason Statham

Jason Statham born 12 September1967) is an English actor and former diver, known for his roles in the Guy Ritchie crime films Revolver, Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels...

, Clive Owen

Clive Owen

Clive Owen is an English actor, who has worked on television, stage and film. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for portraying the lead in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991...

, and Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...

. In 2011, it was announced that McKendry would direct the first film of a three-picture financing deal between Palomar Pictures and Grosvenor Park Productions

Grosvenor Park Productions

Grosvenor Park Productions is a production and film-financing company. It is owned by Canadian film financing mogul Don Starr, headquartered in Los Angeles, and has an international office in London.-Filmography:* Penelope...

. The film, Joseph and the Girl, will be a remake of the 2010 French heist thriller Joseph et la Fille.

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