Cory McAbee

Cory McAbee was born in northern California. He spent the first 12 years of his adult life working as the head of security in bars and nightclubs throughout San Francisco. It was during this period that he became involved in theater. His early stage performances included the role of Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar. From 1989-2011, McAbee was the singer/songwriter for the musical group, The Billy Nayer Show. His first film was the hand-painted, animated musical short, Billy Nayer (1992). It premiered at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival. In 1995 McAbee returned to the Sundance Film festival with a live musical stage presentation of his early short films. It was called, The Billy Nayer Chronicles. It was the first multi-media event ever to be featured at Sundance. Following a US tour of the Billy Nayer Chronicles, McAbee became homeless for three years. It was during this period that he wrote the screenplay for his first feature film, The American Astronaut (2001). The screenplay was accepted into the Sundance Screenwriter lab. In 2000 the film was financed and produced with McAbee as writer, director, composer and lead actor. The American Astronaut (2001) has gone on to win numerous awards and continues to play theaters, festivals and universities worldwide. Following the release of The American Astronaut (2001), McAbee toured the world with The Billy Nayer Show while continuing to write screenplays. In 2003 he performed at the NYC Lincoln Center and Guggenheim Museum as a musician in the Chinese opera, The Orphan of Zhao. In 2007 Cory McAbee was commissioned by the Sundance Film Festival and GSM Association to create a short film for newly emerging mobile phone film distribution technologies. Following this experience McAbee began working in alternative forms of self distribution. In 2009 he created the episodic feature film, Stingray Sam (2009). The film was written and designed for screens of all sizes, and premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival as part of the New Frontier Program. As a filmmaker and for his work in alternative forms of self distribution Cory McAbee has taught Masters Classes and lectured at universities and symposiums worldwide. In 2010 McAbee wrote and directed a non-budget feature entitled, Crazy and Thief (2012) which was released at festivals around the world in 2012. In 2012 McAbee founded the international arts collaborative, Captain Ahab's Motorcycle Club with the goal of creating international solidarity between artists through the creation of a globally generated feature film. The film is called Deep Astronomy and the Romantic Sciences (2022). From 2012 through 2017 McAbee has performed concerts in support of this project throughout the US, Europe and Australia. In 2015 McAbee recorded and produced his first solo album, Small Star Seminar, which become a catalyst for the film's narrative. In 2017 McAbee developed a live performance entitled Deep Astronomy and the Romantic Sciences. These performances were created for the purpose of live entertainment and as events to be documented by collaborators for use in this feature film, and premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Deep Astronomy and the Romantic Sciences (2022) is due to be completed in 2018 for festival release in 2019. Cory McAbee lives in New York.