Lucky McKee
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Born and raised in the small riverbank town of Jenny Lind in Calaveras
County, California, Edward Lucky McKee grew up mostly in poverty with
little access to modern forms of entertainment. When McKee was age ten,
he used an old video camera to videotape his sister's birthday party
which put him on a path for an interest in film making. At age 12, he
and a friend made their own version of
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
which they first saw at the local cinema.
While attending the Calaveras High School, McKee and classmate 'Kevin
Ford' qv) solicited a commission from the school board to videotape a
documentary for their senior class. After graduation, McKee traveled to
Los Angeles in 1993 and enrolled himself in a film writing program at
the University of Southern California's School of Film-Television.
McKee made several friends during his four years at USC, most of whom
helped with the development of his directing films. After leaving USC
in 1997, McKee returned to his hometown to look for work. In 1999, he
collaborated with making his first feature movie, which was a very low
budget horror film titled
All Cheerleaders Die (2001)
with the production help from former USC classmate
Chris Sivertson. Shot on high definition
videotape over a period of two four-day weekends,
All Cheerleaders Die (2001)
was a splatter comedy about the rivalry between a group of high school
jocks and four cheerleaders who accidentally die and are brought back
to life to seek revenge.
While attending USC as a sophomore, McKee wrote the screenplay for a
short film titled 'Fraction', as well as the screenplay for the feature
movie May (2002) which was inspired by
'Mary Shelley''s Frankenstein and the
moodiness of Martin Scorsese's
Taxi Driver (1976), as well as the
lyrics to a song from Nirvana.
May (2002) tells the story about a lonely and
repressed young woman working as a veterinarian assistant who is slowly
pushed into insanity and murder by her quest for companionship. Having
recognized McKee's talent while attending USC, classmate
Marius Vaysberg developed the script
through his newly founded "2Loop Productions" and offered McKee a
production deal to make it into a feature film. With the backing of
"2Loop Productions" and a cast of independent film actors who included
Texas-born Angela Bettis in the starring
role, who was Kevin Ford's wife, as
well as Jeremy Sisto and
Anna Faris. Filming was made in late 2001 in
Los Angeles, and finished just in time for the January 2002 Sundance
Film Festival where it had a one-night showing where it was picked up
by Lions Gate for a limited theatrical release the following year
before making its mark on home video and DVD as a cult following ever
since.
In 2005, McKee was offered by United Artists to direct the
David Ross script
The Woods (2006), another horror film
shot in and around Montreal, Canada and starring some first-rate actors
like Patricia Clarkson and
Bruce Campbell about a haunted
woods influencing the actions of a teenage girl attending an all-girls
high school located in isolation within the woods. But the film ended
up being shelved after United Artists was bought out by Metro Goldwyn
Mayer with a release date still impending.
Also in 2005, McKee was brought on by
Mick Garris as one of the many film
directors to direct an episode for
Masters of Horror (2005)
with the episode "Sick Girl" which starred
May (2002) star
Angela Bettis and B-horror film star Erin
Brown (aka: Erin Brown) which was written
by Sean Hood. McKee describes the
episode as a dark comedy-romantic version of
The Fly (1986) featuring Angela and Erin
as two young lovers whose romance is complicated by the arrival of a
lethal insect.
McKee then stepped in front of the camera for his first acting role in
the starring role of Roman (2006), a
psychological drama-thriller which is based on his own script and
directed by May (2002) star
Angela Bettis. McKee describes
Roman (2006) as a sort-of alternated
version of May (2002) with him playing a
lonely guy whose obsession with a woman he sees passing by his
residence every day leads to things going horribly wrong.
Most recently, McKee has agreed to direct
Red (2008) an adoption of a
Jack Ketchum novel about a lonely war
veteran who goes crazy after his pet dog is killed. McKee has also
worked as a producer for Chris Sivertson
for the 2006 feature film
The Lost (2006) also based on a
novel by Ketchum.
County, California, Edward Lucky McKee grew up mostly in poverty with
little access to modern forms of entertainment. When McKee was age ten,
he used an old video camera to videotape his sister's birthday party
which put him on a path for an interest in film making. At age 12, he
and a friend made their own version of
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
which they first saw at the local cinema.
While attending the Calaveras High School, McKee and classmate 'Kevin
Ford' qv) solicited a commission from the school board to videotape a
documentary for their senior class. After graduation, McKee traveled to
Los Angeles in 1993 and enrolled himself in a film writing program at
the University of Southern California's School of Film-Television.
McKee made several friends during his four years at USC, most of whom
helped with the development of his directing films. After leaving USC
in 1997, McKee returned to his hometown to look for work. In 1999, he
collaborated with making his first feature movie, which was a very low
budget horror film titled
All Cheerleaders Die (2001)
with the production help from former USC classmate
Chris Sivertson. Shot on high definition
videotape over a period of two four-day weekends,
All Cheerleaders Die (2001)
was a splatter comedy about the rivalry between a group of high school
jocks and four cheerleaders who accidentally die and are brought back
to life to seek revenge.
While attending USC as a sophomore, McKee wrote the screenplay for a
short film titled 'Fraction', as well as the screenplay for the feature
movie May (2002) which was inspired by
'Mary Shelley''s Frankenstein and the
moodiness of Martin Scorsese's
Taxi Driver (1976), as well as the
lyrics to a song from Nirvana.
May (2002) tells the story about a lonely and
repressed young woman working as a veterinarian assistant who is slowly
pushed into insanity and murder by her quest for companionship. Having
recognized McKee's talent while attending USC, classmate
Marius Vaysberg developed the script
through his newly founded "2Loop Productions" and offered McKee a
production deal to make it into a feature film. With the backing of
"2Loop Productions" and a cast of independent film actors who included
Texas-born Angela Bettis in the starring
role, who was Kevin Ford's wife, as
well as Jeremy Sisto and
Anna Faris. Filming was made in late 2001 in
Los Angeles, and finished just in time for the January 2002 Sundance
Film Festival where it had a one-night showing where it was picked up
by Lions Gate for a limited theatrical release the following year
before making its mark on home video and DVD as a cult following ever
since.
In 2005, McKee was offered by United Artists to direct the
David Ross script
The Woods (2006), another horror film
shot in and around Montreal, Canada and starring some first-rate actors
like Patricia Clarkson and
Bruce Campbell about a haunted
woods influencing the actions of a teenage girl attending an all-girls
high school located in isolation within the woods. But the film ended
up being shelved after United Artists was bought out by Metro Goldwyn
Mayer with a release date still impending.
Also in 2005, McKee was brought on by
Mick Garris as one of the many film
directors to direct an episode for
Masters of Horror (2005)
with the episode "Sick Girl" which starred
May (2002) star
Angela Bettis and B-horror film star Erin
Brown (aka: Erin Brown) which was written
by Sean Hood. McKee describes the
episode as a dark comedy-romantic version of
The Fly (1986) featuring Angela and Erin
as two young lovers whose romance is complicated by the arrival of a
lethal insect.
McKee then stepped in front of the camera for his first acting role in
the starring role of Roman (2006), a
psychological drama-thriller which is based on his own script and
directed by May (2002) star
Angela Bettis. McKee describes
Roman (2006) as a sort-of alternated
version of May (2002) with him playing a
lonely guy whose obsession with a woman he sees passing by his
residence every day leads to things going horribly wrong.
Most recently, McKee has agreed to direct
Red (2008) an adoption of a
Jack Ketchum novel about a lonely war
veteran who goes crazy after his pet dog is killed. McKee has also
worked as a producer for Chris Sivertson
for the 2006 feature film
The Lost (2006) also based on a
novel by Ketchum.