John McPhail

John McPhail studied Cinematography at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. During his time there he met and formed a close working relationship with Tyler Collins and Andrew Lanni. In 2013 he formed his own production company Worrying Drake Productions and reunited with Collins and Lanni to produce a trilogy of short comedy films. Notes (2013), V for Visa (2013) and Doug and Steve Big Hold Adventure were released throughout 2013 and were warmly received by critics both in the United Kingdom and abroad. Whilst filming the comedy trilogy, McPhail wrote a short 3 minute film called Just Say Hi (2013) to enter into the 2013 edition of the Virgin Media Shorts Competition. The film, starring Collins with Lanni in the role of producer, tells the story of a blossoming romance between a boy and a girl who meet every morning at a bus stop. The film made it through to the top 13 out of a short list of 250 films. The film proved to be a hit with the judges and with the audience at home winning 2 out of the 3 awards available at the festival making McPhail the only director in the competitions history to win multiple awards. With the success of his short films on the domestic and international festival circuit, McPhail launched a crowd-funding campaign to help fund his first feature film Where Do We Go From Here? (2015). The campaign was a success, raising £10,630 in just two months. Production began in the summer of 2014 with McPhail directing the film in just 16 days in various location across Scotland. After editing the film himself, McPhail began entering the film into festivals across the globe. In late October 2015, the film was screened at the Sydney Indie Film Festival where it won three of the seven awards it was nominated for. The film is due to have its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival in February 2016.