Sean McGinly is an American film director and screenwriter. His film Two Days, starring Paul Rudd and Donal Logue, piqued the interest of Tom Hanks, who then agreed to produce McGinly's project, The Great Buck Howard, through his Playtone production company. The film stars Hanks himself along with his son Colin Hanks, John Malkovich and Emily Blunt.
Early life
[edit]McGinly was born in Philadelphia to an Irish-German father and an Irish-Italian mother. He was raised in Northern Virginia.[1]
Career
[edit]In 1994, McGinly moved to Los Angeles, where he began writing student films and straight-to-video films. In 2000, while on a trip to Dublin, Ireland, he co-wrote a comedy film, Two Days. He went on to direct the film as well, and got Paul Rudd, Donal Logue, and Adam Scott to star in it.[1]
McGinly then wrote and directed Brothers Lost: A Story of 9/11, a memorial documentary that interviewed 31 men from 25 families who had lost brothers on that day. He had also lost his brother during the 9/11 attacks.[1]
Two Days led to McGinly's big break which was directing and writing The Great Buck Howard.[1][2] At the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, The Great Buck Howard received an honorable mention in Alex Billington’s “Best of the Fest” list for FirstShowing.net, where it was ranked among the standout films of the festival.[3] In 2017, he began production on Silver Lake, starring Martin Starr and Deborah Ann Woll.[4]
In a 2021 feature with Film Ireland, McGinly was recognized for his 2007 memorial documentary Brothers Lost: A Story of 9/11, which pays tribute through intimate interviews with men who lost brothers in the attacks. The feature praised McGinly’s deeply personal direction style, noting how he turned collective tragedy into a reflective and meaningful cinematic experience, further establishing his versatility across genres. [5]
Filmography
[edit]Directing
[edit]- The Great Buck Howard
- Two Days
- Brothers
- The Truth About Juliet
- Writer's Block
Writing
[edit]- More Mercy
- Venomous
- Fugitive Mind
- Sonic Impact
- Evasive Action
- Scorned 2
- Strategic Command
- The Confidence Man
- Sexual Roulette
- Time Under Fire
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "20 Years Later – Sean McGinly – Film Ireland Magazine". 2021-09-11. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ "Emily Blunt Joins The Great Buck Howard". Empire. 2006-08-01. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ Billington, Alex (January 28, 2008). "Second Annual Sundance Awards and Complete Review List". FirstShowing.net. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ Ford, Rebecca (2017-08-01). "Martin Starr, Deborah Ann Woll to Star in 'Silver Lake' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ Film Ireland (2021-09-11). "20 Years Later – Sean McGinly". Film Ireland. Retrieved 2025-08-06.
External links
[edit]- Sean McGinly at IMDb
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