EXCLUSIVE: Following the acquisition of his Sundance world premiere by Vertical, The Weight filmmaker Padriac McKinley has signed with Range Media Partners.
As an editor, McKinley has cut 19 feature films and over 200 episodes of television before transitioning into directing and producing. He made his feature directorial debut with The Weight, a depression-era adventure starring 5x Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke and Oscar Winner Russell Crowe.
After world premiering at Sundance back in January, The Weight went on to play the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, notching a 94% fresh critical score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The movie will be opening in theaters on Sept. 18.
McKinley directed The Weight off a screenplay by Shelby Gaines, Matthew Chapman and Matthew Booi with a story by Booi and Leo Scherman.
McKinley first gained recognition on DirecTV’s drama Kingdom, where he served as Co-Executive Producer and directed four episodes, including the series finale. He went on to executive produce several high-profile series, including season 2 of the award-nominated Starz series American Gods, and the Golden Globe-winning Showtime limited series, The Loudest Voice, starring Crowe.
Additionally, McKinley served as an EP on Showtime’s 2020 historical drama The Good Lord Bird, starring Ethan Hawke, which earned widespread critical acclaim and multiple award nominations, winning a Peabody Award.
McKinley also directed and edited the Netflix original documentary series, Fightworld, exploring fight cultures around the world. He also served as a Producing Director and Co-Executive Producer on NBC’s Debris, directing multiple episodes, in 2021. He later worked as Consulting Producer on the Crowe thriller film Poker Face, The Sticky for Amazon, and Executive Producer on Ghosts of Beirut for Showtime.
McKinley continues to be represented by Innovative Artists and Jackoway Austen.