Pete McCormack
Encyclopedia
Pete McCormack is a Canadian author, filmmaker, screenwriter and musician. He is best known for directing the Academy Award short-listed documentary Facing Ali and the Leacock Award
-nominated novel Understanding Ken.
starring Paul McGillion
and Gina Chiarelli. Chiarelli won multiple awards and was nominated for a Genie Award
for her role as Grace McKinley, a woman suffering from schizophrenia.
In 2006, McCormack wrote and co-directed (with Jesse James Miller) the award-winning documentary Uganda Rising, about the plight of the people of Northern Uganda. The film was narrated by Academy Award-winner Kevin Spacey
.
For UNICEF in 2007, McCormack wrote and co-directed (with Tim Hardy) the 25-minute Pierce Brosnan
-narrated short film Hope In The Time of AIDS about the HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, and the potential of antiretroviral drugs.
In 2009, McCormack directed the documentary Facing Ali
. The film was short-listed in the 2010 Academy Awards’ category for best full-length documentary.
In October 2009, the film won the Audience Choice award for Best Documentary at the Vancouver International Film Festival
.
Screenplays:
McCormack’s second novel, Understanding Ken, was released in 1998. The novel focused on a young boy who creates a mythology around hockey, the Montreal Canadiens
and Ken Dryden
in order to deal with the trauma of his parents’ divorce.
In 1999 the novel was nominated for the Stephen Leacock Award for Canadian Humour, and named one of the 10 best books of the year by the Ottawa Citizen.
of Payola$ fame, and members of Spirit of the West
, Geoffrey Kelly
, Hugh MacMillan
and drummer and producer Vince Ditrich
played on the CD. Renowned jazz musician and two-time Juno Award
winner Brad Turner
played the trumpet solo on the opening track “Stay With Me.”
McCormack released a second CD, Trust, in 1998. The track, Be Brave Tonight, was screen-tested in Los Angeles as the proposed song to close the Kevin Costner-film Message in a Bottle
. The song was ultimately not chosen because the screen-test audience reportedly found the song combined with the film’s ending “too depressing.”
McCormack recorded an unplugged third album, Wide Open, in 2008.
In 2009, he contributed the closing song to the Academy Award-shortlisted documentary, Facing Ali, which he also directed.
McCormack attended Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia from 1984 to 1986.
McCormack dropped out of university after three and a half years and started writing songs.
McCormack currently lives in Vancouver and is married to Samantha Reynolds, also a writer, and CEO of Echo Memoirs, a custom book publishing company. In September 2010, Reynolds gave birth to their first child, a boy, Booker.
Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour
The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour is an annual literary award presented to the best work of humorous literature in English by a Canadian writer. The award is a tribute to well-known Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock , and is accompanied by a cash prize of $15,000...
-nominated novel Understanding Ken.
Film
In 2003, McCormack directed and wrote his first feature film, the award-winning See Grace FlySee Grace Fly
See Grace Fly is an independent film directed and written by Pete McCormack and starring Gina Chiarelli and Paul McGillion. Its dramatic and often heartwrenching plot revolve around siblings, Grace and Dominic McKinley as they struggle to cope with their mother's death and Grace's mental...
starring Paul McGillion
Paul McGillion
Paul McGillion is a Vancouver-based actor who has worked in television, film and theatre since 1990. He is best known for his role on the television series Stargate Atlantis as Dr. Carson Beckett.-Early life:...
and Gina Chiarelli. Chiarelli won multiple awards and was nominated for a Genie Award
Genie Award
Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
for her role as Grace McKinley, a woman suffering from schizophrenia.
In 2006, McCormack wrote and co-directed (with Jesse James Miller) the award-winning documentary Uganda Rising, about the plight of the people of Northern Uganda. The film was narrated by Academy Award-winner Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
.
For UNICEF in 2007, McCormack wrote and co-directed (with Tim Hardy) the 25-minute Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
-narrated short film Hope In The Time of AIDS about the HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, and the potential of antiretroviral drugs.
In 2009, McCormack directed the documentary Facing Ali
Facing Ali
Facing Ali is a 2009 documentary directed by Pete McCormack about Muhammad Ali as told from the perspectives of some of the notable opponents he faced during his career: George Chuvalo, Sir Henry Cooper, George Foreman, "Smokin'" Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes , Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, Earnie...
. The film was short-listed in the 2010 Academy Awards’ category for best full-length documentary.
In October 2009, the film won the Audience Choice award for Best Documentary at the Vancouver International Film Festival
Vancouver International Film Festival
The Vancouver International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for two weeks in late September and early October...
.
Screenplays:
- Whirlygirl, 2006, directed by Academy Award Winning producer Jim WilsonJim Wilson-Sports:* James B. Wilson , American football player and coach* Jim Wilson , American Major League Baseball player* Jim Wilson , American pitcher in Major League Baseball, 1945–1958...
(Dances With WolvesDances with WolvesDances with Wolves is a 1990 epic western film directed by and starring Kevin Costner. It is a film adaptation of the 1988 book of the same name by Michael Blake and tells the story of a Union Army Lieutenant who travels to the American frontier to find a military post, and his dealings with a...
) - Plague City: SARS in TorontoPlague City: SARS in TorontoPlague City: SARS in Toronto is a 2005 made for TV movie on the SARS outbreak in Toronto. The locations and characters were fictional.Produced by CTV, it was filmed in Hamilton, Ontario.-Cast:* Kari Matchett as Amy* Ron White * Rick Roberts as Dr...
(TV movie), 2005 - The Blue Butterfly, 2004, directed by Léa PoolLéa PoolLéa Pool is a Swiss-Canadian filmmaker who has also taught film at UQAM. She is openly lesbian. Her 1986 film Anne Trister was entered into the 36th Berlin International Film Festival. Her 1999 film Emporte-moi was entered into the 49th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Special...
and starring Academy Award winner William HurtWilliam HurtWilliam McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
.
Novels
McCormack’s first novel, Shelby, about a university drop-out who falls for an exotic dancer near the end of her career, was published in 1994.McCormack’s second novel, Understanding Ken, was released in 1998. The novel focused on a young boy who creates a mythology around hockey, the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
and Ken Dryden
Ken Dryden
Kenneth Wayne Dryden, PC, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, businessman, author, and former NHL goaltender. Dryden is married with two children and four grandchildren and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame...
in order to deal with the trauma of his parents’ divorce.
In 1999 the novel was nominated for the Stephen Leacock Award for Canadian Humour, and named one of the 10 best books of the year by the Ottawa Citizen.
Music
McCormack has released three independent CDs. His debut CD, Breathe, was released in 1995. Paul HydePaul Hyde
Paul Hyde is a British-born Canadian musician and record producer .Born in Yorkshire, Hyde came to Canada as a teenager.- Hyde in the Payola$, Phase One :...
of Payola$ fame, and members of Spirit of the West
Spirit of the West
Spirit of the West are a Canadian folk rock band, who were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which made them one of Canada's most successful alternative rock acts in the 1990s.-Early years:The band began...
, Geoffrey Kelly
Geoffrey Kelly
Geoffrey Kelly is a Canadian rock musician.He plays guitars, flutes and bodhran for the folk rock band Spirit of the West, for whom he is also the lead vocalist on some songs. He and John Mann are the band's primary songwriters.Kelly is also a full time member of The Paperboys, and released a solo...
, Hugh MacMillan
Hugh McMillan (musician)
Hugh McMillan is a Canadian folk/jazz/rock musician.McMillan is a member of the folk rock band Spirit of the West, and is a multi-instrumentalist who has played guitars, bass, banjo, trombone, mandolins, Chapman stick, piano, and keyboards on the band's albums...
and drummer and producer Vince Ditrich
Vince Ditrich
Vince Ditrich is a Canadian rock musician.A drummer, Ditrich has played with a variety of musicians, including pre-Odds bands with Doug Elliott and Steven Drake, Long John Baldry, Paul Hyde, Sue Medley, Mae Moore, Great Big Sea and Doug and the Slugs.In late 1989, he joined Spirit of the West, and...
played on the CD. Renowned jazz musician and two-time Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
winner Brad Turner
Brad Turner
Brad Turner may refer to:*Brad Turner , television show director*Brad Turner , former AHL/NHL hockey player*Brad Turner, fictional character in the cartoon series M.A.S.K....
played the trumpet solo on the opening track “Stay With Me.”
McCormack released a second CD, Trust, in 1998. The track, Be Brave Tonight, was screen-tested in Los Angeles as the proposed song to close the Kevin Costner-film Message in a Bottle
Message in a Bottle (film)
Message in a Bottle is a 1999 American romantic drama film directed by Luis Mandoki. Based on a novel with the same name by Nicholas Sparks, the film stars Kevin Costner, Robin Wright Penn, and Paul Newman...
. The song was ultimately not chosen because the screen-test audience reportedly found the song combined with the film’s ending “too depressing.”
McCormack recorded an unplugged third album, Wide Open, in 2008.
In 2009, he contributed the closing song to the Academy Award-shortlisted documentary, Facing Ali, which he also directed.
Personal life
McCormack was born in Thetford, Norfolk, England. His father was a doctor. In 1966, his family immigrated to Canada where he grew up mostly in the West Kootenay area of British Columbia. His parents divorced when he was six.McCormack attended Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia from 1984 to 1986.
McCormack dropped out of university after three and a half years and started writing songs.
McCormack currently lives in Vancouver and is married to Samantha Reynolds, also a writer, and CEO of Echo Memoirs, a custom book publishing company. In September 2010, Reynolds gave birth to their first child, a boy, Booker.