Scott McGehee and David Siegel are an American filmmaking duo. They have made films across different genres and styles, often focusing on emotional stories within a familial structure. They have shared a directing credit on every film since their 1993 debut feature ''
Suture'', making their ongoing co-directing collaboration one of the longest in American film.
Background
Siegel was born in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, McGehee in
Garden Grove, California
Garden Grove is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 171,949 at the 2020 census. State Route 22, also known as the Garden Grove Freeway, passes through the city in an east–west direction. The west ...
. Both were raised in
Orange County, California
Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...
, but they did not meet until much later. Neither attended film school. Siegel has a bachelor's degree in Architecture from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, and an MFA from the
Rhode Island School of Design
The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...
. McGehee has a bachelor's degree in English from
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
and an MA in Rhetoric from
Berkeley
Berkeley most often refers to:
*Berkeley, California, a city in the United States
**University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California
*George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher
Berkeley may also refer to ...
, where he studied Film Theory and Japanese Film History. The two were introduced by McGehee's sister, production designer Kelly McGehee, with whom they have also shared an ongoing collaboration.
Career
''Suture''
Working out of San Francisco, California, McGehee and Siegel made a pair of short films before focusing on their first feature,
''Suture''. They went into production on ''Suture'' without enough funding to complete the project.
Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh ( ; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. A pioneer of modern Independent film, independent cinema, Soderbergh later drew acclaim for formally inventiv ...
saw an incomplete rough cut, and helped them raise financing to complete post production. The film premiered at the
Telluride Film Festival
The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado, during Labor Day, Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 51st Telluride Film Festival, 51st edition took place on August 30–September ...
before screening at
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Sundance
A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony.
Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to:
Places
;Canada
* Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood
* Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town
;United States
* Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pl ...
, and
Cannes
Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
''('
Un Certain Regard
(; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob.
The section presents 20 films with unusua ...
')''. ''Suture'' was distributed theatrically in 1994 by
The Samuel Goldwyn Company
The Samuel Goldwyn Company, later known as Samuel Goldwyn Entertainment, Goldwyn Entertainment Company, Goldwyn Films, and G2 Films, was an American independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn Jr., the son of the famous Cinema of the Unit ...
.
i5 Films
After a multi-year period of struggle trying to make films within the studio system, McGehee and Siegel formed independent production company i5 Films with producer Robert Nathan. Based in San Francisco, i5 Films produced four films during its short history. The first,
''Lush'' (2000), was the first feature of screenwriter Mark Gibson. The next year, i5 produced both Patrick Stettner's first feature, ''
The Business of Strangers'', and McGehee and Siegel's second film,
''The Deep End''. Both premiered in competition at Sundance in 2001.
''The Deep End'' was picked up by
Fox Searchlight
Searchlight Pictures, Inc., formerly known as Fox Searchlight Pictures, is an American arthouse film production and distribution company, which since 2019 is owned by Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Disney Entertainment segment of the ...
for theatrical distribution. It had its international premiere in the
Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, and later earned its lead actor,
Tilda Swinton
Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. She is known for playing eccentric and enigmatic characters, often working with auteurs. Her accolades include an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and a Volpi Cup, in addit ...
, a
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...
nomination.
McGehee and Siegel's next film,
''Bee Season'' (2004), financed by Fox Searchlight, was the last of their films to be made under the i5 banner. Scripted by
Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, based on
Myla Goldberg's novel
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
, ''Bee Season'' was the first time the duo directed a script penned by another writer. ''Bee Season'' premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, but was a disappointment theatrically.
Move to New York
In 2004, Siegel and McGehee relocated to New York City to complete post production on ''Bee Season''. Their first film after returning to New York, a low-budget indie called
''Uncertainty'' (2008), was a return to the more experimental style of their first feature, ''Suture''. The actors worked from a treatment written by McGehee and Siegel, but improvised their own dialogue after a long rehearsal process. ''Uncertainty'' premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was released by
IFC Films
Independent Film Company (formerly IFC Films) is an American film production and distribution company based in New York City, New York. It is an offshoot of IFC (U.S. TV channel), IFC, owned by AMC Networks.
It mainly distributes independent fil ...
.
Their next film, also set in New York,
''What Maisie Knew'' (2012), was from a screenplay written by Carroll Cartwright and Nancy Doyne, based on
Henry James
Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
’
novel
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
. McGehee and Siegel have said they were attracted to the challenge of telling the story from the point of view of the six-year-old main character, Maisie. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was distributed theatrically by
Millennium Films.
Big Creek Projects
After several projects failed to get off the ground, McGehee and Siegel once again raised equity financing to produce their next film, ''
Montana Story''. They have described writing the screenplay quickly, during the
COVID-19 lockdowns
During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of Non-pharmaceutical intervention (epidemiology), non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar socie ...
of 2020, and then gathering a small group of actors and crew in a remote
Montana
Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
location to shoot in a safe and controlled environment during the early days of the pandemic. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2021, and was released theatrically by
Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street is an east–west street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightlife, nightclub district. The street connects a neighborhood popular today for music venues and comedy as well as a ...
.
Around the same time, the filmmakers formed a new production company, Big Creek Projects, along with producing partner Mike Spreter. ''Montana Story'' is the first film produced under the Big Creek Projects banner.
In February 2024, it was announced that Big Creek Projects' next film would be McGehee and Siegel's
''The Friend'', an adaptation of
Sigrid Nunez’
National Book Award
The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...
-winning
novel
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
.
Frequent collaborators
McGehee and Siegel have worked frequently with English director of photography
Giles Nuttgens (five films), and production designer Kelly McGehee (six films).
Personal life
McGehee and Siegel both live in New York, NY. Siegel is straight, McGehee is gay.
Filmography
Executive producers
* ''
The Business of Strangers'' (2001)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siegel, David, and Scott McGehee
Filmmaking duos
Living people
American male screenwriters
People from Orange County, California
Columbia College (New York) alumni
University of California, Berkeley alumni
Film directors from California
American LGBTQ film directors
LGBTQ people from California
American gay writers
American gay artists
American LGBTQ screenwriters
Screenwriters from California
Film producers from California
Film directors from New York City
Film producers from New York (state)
Screenwriters from New York (state)
21st-century American screenwriters
20th-century American screenwriters
Year of birth missing (living people)