Michael McDonough: From a Scottish council house to Hollywood

McDonough, 51, has made his name in low-budget, high-quality independent movies – most notably with the award-winning director Debra Granik – films which might not trouble the box-office top 10 but are always the favourites of critics and those who hand out awards.

Now, with his entry into the Academy, he will have a vote when Oscar-time comes around.

As he explained, it's all a far-cry from his humble beginnings on the back-streets of Paisley. “I spent my first year living in a prefab on Killearn Road, before the family moved to a new council estate near Barshaw Park in the east end of Paisley at the end of the 1960s.

“I was always into art, and at Sacred Heart High School I had a couple of great art teachers, Hugh McGinley and Anne Carey, who really encouraged me, as did Bob Saunders of Paisley Museum.”

McDonough’s talents saw him win a place at the Glasgow School of Art; an unusual choice for a working-class boy from Paisley.

“My dad, Tom, was a welding foreman and my three older brothers – Tom, James and John – work as engineers. The whole idea of someone going to art college was not really part of their experience, but they never once questioned it. They were fantastically supportive and proud for me.”

Running parallel to his art school studies, McDonough spent countless nights with fellow students at the Glasgow Film Theatre, where his love of cinema really took hold.

“I saw hundreds of great films there, like Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo and all the great Peter Greenaway films of the 1980s, especially Belly of an Architect. But back then, it never occurred to me that I might work in the film industry someday.”

In the early 1990s, McDonough studied printmaking at the Royal College of Art in London, followed by a one-year scholarship to Rome which was crucial in developing his artistic potential. While studying in Rome he also worked as a fixer for an STV profile of the Scots sculptor Sandy Stoddart.

“I watched the crew work and soon I was thinking…I’d love to try that!” he recalls.

Back in Scotland, McDonough worked more for STV but felt frustrated that he couldn’t get the proper postgrad training course in the UK.

In 1994, he decided to look further afield. “I’d done some group art exhibitions in New York and I knew the city well, so I started applying for film courses there.”

Once again, his family were incredibly supportive. “My parents – Tom and May – re-mortgaged their ex-council house and raised the £30,000 to pay for my first year of film studies at New York University (NYU). It was a wonderful thing for them to do and absolutely changed my life.

"They have since both passed away. I’m sure they’d have enjoyed watching some of my projects since, as it was only really the student work with Debra that they were here to see.”

“I was fortunate to be in the same class as Debra Granik at NYU and we both came under the guidance of Boris Frumin, our Russian directing professor, who taught us to approach work from a European and world cinema perspective. We focused on the truth and reality of what we were looking at. A lot of what excites both Debra and I as filmmakers can be traced back to what Boris Frumin taught us.

“I ended first year struggling financially but two great educators saved my skin. Dean of Students Elena Pinto-Simon was a great supporter and introduced me to Duncan Rice, a Scot who was vice-chancellor at NYU. He wrote me a cover letter which basically said I could not be kicked out of school for lack of finances.”

Post-graduation, McDonough’s big break came when documentary maker Michael Moore asked him to shoot the Oscar-winning Bowling for Columbine.

“He liked a short film I’d shot at the New Films, New Directors festival. We went on the road together for several weeks, criss-crossing America. The highlight was interviewing Charlton Heston at his Hollywood home (the pro-gun star walked out of the talk) and then that same afternoon we flew to Denver and spoke to Marilyn Manson before he went onstage at Ozfest. We carried those tapes – with the two polar-opposite views on gun control – with us in a bag until we arrived back in New York. All the other material was air-freighted back each day, but these were too precious to risk losing them.”

McDonough has worked with leading directors like Lawrence Kasdan, Stephen Frears, David Mackenzie and Terence Davies (for the stunning 2015 adaptation of Sunset Song). But he is most closely associated with his old classmate at NYU, director Debra Granik. The pair have collaborated on a trilogy of impressive movies, each of which featured breakthrough performances by the leading actress. Down to the Bone (2004) won Sundance Awards for Vera Farmiga and Granik. Six years later, Winter’s Bone set Jennifer Lawrence on the road to A-list stardom, was nominated for four Oscars and won Best Picture at Sundance. This year, Leave No Trace, featuring a remarkable performance by New Zealand teenager Thomasin McKenzie, seems bound to win awards too.

McDonough feels that membership of the Academy is a recognition of his work so far. Besides voting rights for the Academy Awards, membership also offers other rewards. “It means I’m able to attend great film screenings from the vast archive collection of the Academy and to meet fantastic fellow members. There’s the chance to mentor the next generation and be active on committees preserving the best of the past and to push for change in the industry.”

McDonough lives in the Los Angeles sunshine for six months of the year with his wife, the Irish artist Ciara Moore, and he is currently busy working on the Amazon TV detective series Bosch. He loves life in the city, where he has easy access to many of his heroes and intends to continue working on the indie movie scene.

“The films I’m proudest of are the ones with the greatest challenges and usually the lowest budgets – there’s definitely a correlation there!

“Sure, there are definitely established directors I’d love to work with on large budget projects but every day I go to work on a film or tv show of any size I feel lucky.”

BEST PERSONALITY TRAIT? On set, I’m definitely a ‘booster’, through positive praise or constructive criticism, as opposed to a ‘shouter’. I can’t stand shouters!

WORST PERSONALITY TRAIT? Conflict avoidance! Although I may have to plead the 5th amendment on that one.

BEST ADVICE YOU RECEIVED? I spoke with Paddy Higson on Cardiac Arrest and she really encouraged me to go to the US. Andrew Lesnie, who was the director of photography on Lord of the Rings told me to always ‘wear sunblock and a polariser on your lens’ when you work in New Zealand. My teacher and sponsor for membership of the ASC, Sol Negrin taught me use stockings over the lens, a technique he used when he shot Lauren Bacall adverts in the 1970s.

LAST FILM YOU WATCHED? The French Connection, it’s an inspiration for the Amazon TV show I’m currently working on, Bosch, which is based on Michael Connolly’s novels. I’m also in touch with Owen Roizman, a legend of cinematography who was director of photography on The French Connection.

LAST BOOK YOU READ? I recently read lots of Tess Gallagher and the late Raymond Carver and was lucky enough to visit Tess at their home in Port Angeles, Washington State. To stand next to each of their writing desks was a real thrill.

FAVOURITE CUISINE –Indian or Italian. I really miss Mother India Café when I’m not in Glasgow. In LA there are some great Italian restaurants, like Officine Brera and Speranza.

IDEAL DINNER-PARTY GUESTS? Sticking with people that I’ve met, it would be Frances McDormand, who is incredibly kind. David Bowie, a genius and a very funny guy (OK, a bit of a cheat a he only passed me on the street in New York.) Jennifer Lawrence – from day one, scene one on Winter’s Bone she was an amazing professional and very down to earth. It would be interesting to meet her now after all she’s been through since. Sidney Lumet, a brilliant story-teller. Vilmos Zsigmond – he was director of photography on my favourite film The Deer Hunter. I’d probably end up asking him lots of technical questions.