- Born
- Born and brought up in Northern Ireland during the 'troubles', Mary McGuckian completed her formal education in the Republic of Ireland at Trinity College Dublin, where she took a degree in engineering. During this time that she became involved with 'Trinity Players', appearing in over 30 productions as well as producing, designing, directing and even lighting various others. She is remembered for her ability to juggle a demanding under-graduate lecture and exams schedule with full-time theatre commitment.
Her interest in theatre and politics led her to follow an autodidactic post graduate education in literature, theatre, acting and directing on various courses in London, Paris and Italy. During which time she wrote a number of avant-garde plays and movement pieces which were variously produced in England and Ireland. Most acclaimed was probably her long-running stage adaptation of Brian Merriman's poem, The Midnight Court.
Returning to Ireland, she continued to work as an actor and playwright until invited to write screenplays by various producers in the emergent Irish film industry of the early 1990s. At this point, she set up her own company, Pembridge Productions, to develop and produce feature film projects. The company was active as a co-producer on many Irish feature films and also produced three pictures which she wrote and directed. Words Upon The Window Pane, (adapted from the play by WB Yeats), This Is The Sea, (an adaptation of her own play 'Hazel' and Best, (the life story of Northern Irish footballer George Best); all essentially Irish subjects rooted in her cultural heritage.
In 2001, she established Pembridge Pictures in the UK to develop and finance a slate of pictures for a long-term international production strategy by accessing UK tax-incentive based funding in co-production with treaty partners of the UK such as the EU treaty countries and Canada. The first of these to commence principal photography was her adaptation of the Thornton Wilder classic, The Bridge Of San Luis Rey, delivered in May 2004, which shot in Spain.
Her recent project and feature film, The Price of Desire (2014), is now in post production. 'The Price of Desire' (2013/2014) is the story of the inception of 20th century Architecture.
To accompany the film is The Eileen Gray Project (2014/2015), which encompasses her feature film, The Price of Desire, a companion documentary Gray Matters by Marco Orisini, a series of limited edition Eileen Gray Project Portrait Prints by Julian Lennon to roll out across 2015 with various other projects designed to bring the life and work of Eileen Gray to the public's attention.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous - Filmography
WORDS UPON THE WINDOW PANE 1994/1995 Adapted From The One-Act Play By WB Yeats With Geraldine Chaplin, Geraldine James, Donal Donnelly, Gemma Craven, Ian Richardson, John Lynch & Jim Sheridan Selected For Venice, Sundance, London And Tokyo Film Festivals
THIS IS THE SEA 1996/1997 Adapted From Her Stage Play Hazel With Richard Harris, Gabriel Byrne, Samantha Morton & John Lynch Released by First Look Features and Paramount
BEST 1999/2000 Co-Written With Actor, John Lynch With John Lynch , Ian Bannen, Jerome Flynn, Ian Hart, Patsy Kensit, Stephen Fry & Rodger Daltry for Sky Pictures - Best Foreign Film Temecula Film Festival
THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY 2003/2004 Which She Adapted From The Pulitzer Prize Winning Novel By Thornton Wilder With F Murray Abraham, Kathy Bates, Gabriel Byrne, Geraldine Chaplin, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, John Lynch And Jim Sheridan released by NEW LINE FILMS, COLUMBIA PICTURES and METROPOLITAN FILM EXPORT
THE AMORALITY TRILOGY PLUS ONE 2005/2009 A Trilogy Plus One Of Improvised Films for New Films International Which Consisted Of:
RAG TALE 2005/2006 Devised In Collaboration With Simon Callow, Lucy Davis, Kerry Fox, Rupert Graves, Ian Hart, David Hayman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Cal Macaninch, Malcolm Mcdowell, Bill Patterson, John Sessions, Sara Stockbridge
INTERVENTION 2006/2007 Devised In Collaboration With Charles Dance, Donna D'Errico, Colm Feore, Rupert Graves, Gary Farmer, Kerry Fox, Ian Hart, Andie Mcdowell, Russell Means, Bill Patterson, John Sessions, Sara Stockbridge, Jennifer Tilly -
INCONCEIVABLE 2007/2008 Devised In Collaboration With Lothaire Bluteau, Geraldine Chaplin, Donna D'Errico, Colm Feore, Kerry Fox, Andie Macdowell, Elizabeth Mcgovern, Jordi Molla, Amanda Plummer, John Sessions, Sara Stockbridge And Jennifer Tilly
THE MAKING OF PLUS ONE 2008/2009 Also Devised In Collaboration With Lothaire Bluteau, Geraldine Chaplin, Donna D'Errico, Michael Eklund, Suzan-Lori Parks, Jordi Molla, Amanda Plummer, John Sessions, Sara Stockbridge And Jennifer Tilly -
MAN ON THE TRAIN 2010/2011 A Remake Of Patrice Le Conte's 2001 Film By The Same Name With Donald Sutherland And Larry Mullen Jr released by TRIBECA ENTERTAINMENT and ENTERTAINMENT ONE
THE NOVELIST 2012/2013 An Experimental Performance Piece About A Writer Struggling Between Artistry And Addiction Starring Eric Roberts to be released by GATHR USA
THE PRICE OF DESIRE 2014/2015 The Eileen Gray Story With Orla Brady In The Title Role and co-starring Vincent Perez, Francesco Scianna and Alanis Morrissette to be released via THE LITTLE FILM COMPANY
A GIRL FROM MOGADISHU 2019 Based On The Testimony of International FGM/C Activist With Aja Naomi King, Barkhad Abdi, Martha Canga Antonio and Maryam Mursal supported by Orla Brady, Pauline McLynn and Stanley Townsend
In Development
AE - A 3 season series x 10 episodes where AE stands for Anonymous Encounters, exploring the current trend of hooking up on line for anonymous sex from a female perspective.
THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY - DIRECTOR's CUT - A reworking of her original 2005 adaptation of Thornton Wilder's classic Pulitzer Prize winning novel.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Pembridge Pictures
- SpouseJohn Lynch(May 31, 1997 - present) (separated)
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