Craig William Macneill is an American film director, writer, and editor. His feature film ''Lizzie'', starring Chloë Sevigny and

Kristen Stewart Kristen Jaymes Stewart (born April 9, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2012, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a César Award, in addition to nominations for an Aca ...

, premiered in the U.S Dramatic Competition section at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The film was acquired by Roadside Attractions and Saban Films and released theatrically in the fall of 2018. Macneill's first feature film, '' The Boy'', premiered in the narrative competition at the 2015

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, T ...

and which was also based on a previous short film he co-wrote, directed, and edited titled ''Henley'', which screened in competition at the

2012 Sundance Film Festival The 2012 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 until January 29, 2012 in Park City, Utah. 64 short films were selected for the festival from 7,675 submissions, including 27 international shorts from 3,592 submissions. Non-competition ...

and won the grand jury prize for "Best Short Film" at the

Gen Art Film Festival Gen Art is an arts and entertainment organization that showcases emerging fashion designers, filmmakers, musicians and visual artists. It has produced over 100 events annually, which included fashion shows, film premieres and screenings, live musi ...

and Clint Eastwood’s Carmel Film and Arts Film Festival. In 2016. On the Television side, Macneill directed two episodes for HBO’s Emmy winning series, ''Westworld'', along with Amazon Prime Series ''Them'' which was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Macneill is currently developing an original series, titled UNKNOWN, for Amazon Prime with Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s Kilter Films producing. Macneill's other TV directorial work include episodes for Jordan Peele's ''Twilight Zone'', ''Castle Rock'', ''NOS4A2'', '' Monsterland,'' and the first season of the limited anthology television series ''Channel Zero'''': Candle Cove''. The show was created by Nick Antosca and starred Paul Schneider and Fiona Shaw.

Early life and education

Macneill was born in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

, and moved to

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

where he attended high school. He graduated from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

with a Bachelor of Fine Arts after having studied under filmmakers including

Stan Brakhage James Stanley Brakhage ( ; January 14, 1933 – March 9, 2003) was an American filmmaker. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th-century experimental film. Over the course of five decades, Brakhage created a larg ...

Career

Feature films

Macneill directed ''

Lizzie Lizzie or Lizzy is a nickname for Elizabeth or Elisabet, often given as an independent name in the United States, especially in the late 19th century. Lizzie can also be the shortened version of Lizeth, Lissette or Lizette. People * Elizabeth I ...

'', a psychological thriller starring

Chloe Sevigny Chloe (; ), also spelled Chloë, Chlöe, or Chloé, is a feminine name meaning "blooming" or "fertility" in Greek. The name ultimately derives, through Greek, from the Proto-Indo-European root ', which relates to the colors yellow and green. T ...

and

. Lizzie is premiering in the U.S Dramatic Competition section at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Macneill directed and co-wrote the 2015 feature film '' The Boy'', starring

David Morse David Bowditch Morse (born October 11, 1953) is an American actor, singer, television director, and writer. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack "Boomer" Morrison in the medical drama series '' St. Elsewhere'' (1982–88). His film c ...

Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive Em ...

Jared Breeze Jared Breeze (born 2005) is an American child actor. He starred in the title role of the 2015 film, '' The Boy''. Career Breeze's first film appearance was in 2014, in ''Cooties'', and his performance brought him to the attention of the produc ...

Mike Vogel Michael James Vogel (born July 17, 1979) is an American actor and former model. Vogel began acting in 2001 and has appeared in several films and series, including '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'', '' The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants'', ''Grin ...

, Bill Sage,

Zuleikha Robinson Zuleikha Robinson (born 29 June 1977) is a British actress. She first came to attention as Yves Adele Harlow, a mysterious thief on the 2001 series ''The Lone Gunmen''. She has appeared in the films '' Hidalgo'' (2004), ''The Merchant of Venice ...

, and Aiden Lovecamp. The film was produced by

Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' (2012). Woo ...

, Daniel Noah, and Josh C. Waller and the company

SpectreVision SpectreVision (formerly The Woodshed) is an American film production company founded in 2010 by actor Elijah Wood and directors Daniel Noah and Josh C. Waller. SpectreVision is a genre driven company with a focus on psychological thriller and horr ...

Television

Macneill directed 2 episodes for HBO's

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populate ...

. Macneill directed 2 episodes for the first season of Amazon Prime's

Them. ''Them'' is an American online magazine, online List of LGBT periodicals, LGBT magazine launched in October 2017 by Phillip Picardi and owned by Condé Nast. Its coverage includes LGBT culture, fashion, and politics. History In 2017 Picardi, ...

Macneill directed an episode for Jordan Peele's

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...

anthology reboot television series, titled The Blue Scorpion, starring

Chris O'Dowd Christopher O'Dowd (born 9 October 1979) is an Irish actor and comedian. He received wide attention as Roy Trenneman, one of the lead characters in the Channel 4 comedy ''The IT Crowd'', which ran for four series between 2006 and 2010. He has ...

. Macneill directed the first season of the limited anthology television series '' Channel Zero: Candle Cove''. The show was created by Nick Antosca and stars Paul Schneider and Fiona Shaw. Macneill directed an episode of the horror drama series, '' Castle Rock''. Macneill directed 2 episodes of the horror drama series, '' NOS4A2''. Macneill directed 1 episode of the horror drama series, '' Monsterland''. Macneill directed 2 episodes for the

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina ''Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'' is an American comic book series published by Archie Horror, an imprint of Archie Comics, beginning in 2014. The series is a darker take on the characters and setting of ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch''. It is writ ...

Short films

Macneill has written, produced, edited, and directed a number of short films before
The Boy
'. Among them is a 2011 short ''Henley'', which won a "Best Short Film" award at the 2011 Gen Art Film Festival Film Festival and the 2012 Carmel Film and Arts Film Festival. ''Henley'' was one of 64 short films selected from 7,675 submissions to screen in competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Among the short films that Macneill has both directed, produced, co-wrote, and edited include the award winning short film ''Late Bloomer'', which screened as an official selection at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. It won the audience award at the 2004 Lake Placid Film Festival, and was screened at film festivals worldwide

Experimental film

In 2009, Macneill, along with co-director Alexei Kaleina, completed an experimental film titled '' The Afterlight'', which had its world premiere at the

International Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. Sections The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: Cinema d'Og ...

and was acquired for limited theatrical distribution through Cinema Purgatorio. The film stars Michael Kelly, Ana Asensio, Jicky Schnee, and Rip Torn.

Personal life

Macneill lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, New York with his wife, director/actress Ana Asensio. He was the recipient of a 2009 Jerome Foundation Grant.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macneill, Craig William American film directors People from Virginia University of Colorado alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)