Russell Mulcahy facts for kids

Russell Mulcahy (born June 23, 1953) is an Australian director. He makes movies, TV shows, and music videos. He started his career directing music videos for famous artists like Elton John and Duran Duran.

His first big movie was the horror film Razorback (1984). He became very famous for directing the fantasy action movie Highlander (1986). This movie was so popular it led to many other movies, TV shows, and games.

Some of Mulcahy's other works include Highlander's first sequel, Highlander II: The Quickening (1991). He also directed the superhero film The Shadow and the action-horror movie Resident Evil: Extinction (2007). He directed a movie about Errol Flynn called In Like Flynn. He was also a director and main producer for the TV series Teen Wolf (2011–17). He directed the movie that came from Teen Wolf in 2023.

Mulcahy's style is easy to spot. He uses quick cuts and camera movements that follow the action. He also uses glowing lights, dark, moody lighting, and windblown fabrics.

Early Life and First Steps in Film

Russell Mulcahy was born in Melbourne, Australia. He grew up in Mangerton, New South Wales. He went to Corrimal High School.

When he was 14, he got an 8mm camera. He started making short films with his friends. After school, he worked as a film editor for Australia's Seven Network. He said he would "creep in there at 3am and make my own movies." He also acted on stage. He wasn't sure if he wanted to act or direct. Two of his films won awards for Best Independent Short Film. He won Best Short Film at the Sydney Film Festival for "Contrived Mind Flashes."

A producer from a pop music show asked him to make a music video. This was for the Harry Nilsson song "Everybody's Talkin'." There was no video for the song yet.

Directing Music Videos

Mulcahy quickly became a popular music video director. He made many successful videos for bands from Australia and New Zealand. These included Dragon, Hush, and AC/DC. He also made the video for the Saints' song "(I'm) Stranded" in 1976.

A record company sent Mulcahy to England. He made a video for a punk band there. People liked it, so Mulcahy decided to stay in England. He joined a production company. He made popular music videos for British pop groups. His early work included videos for Culture Club and the Human League. He also directed "Making Plans for Nigel" by XTC and a video for Paul McCartney.

He directed the Vapors' hit song "Turning Japanese" (1980). His famous video for the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" (1979) was the first music video ever played on MTV in 1981. Mulcahy remembered that no one knew how big the video would become. He said, "It was a one day shoot. I just had this idea of it being set in a strange laboratory."

In 1978, he went to the United States. He directed videos for The Cryers and Candi Staton. This is where he first used a "jump cut," which is a quick cut between two similar shots. Mulcahy also used other new ideas. These included bright spot colors, body painting, and special effects with glass. He also used a wide screen look for his videos. These ideas later became common in music videos.

Mulcahy was friends with Richard Branson. He had made videos for Branson's company, Virgin Records. Branson wanted to make a movie about two comedians, Derek and Clive. Mulcahy filmed them over two nights. This became Derek and Clive Get the Horn (1979), which was Mulcahy's first full-length movie.

For the next few years, Mulcahy focused on music videos. He became one of the best directors in that field. In 1980, he helped start a video company called MGMM. He worked a lot with bands like Ultravox and Duran Duran. He directed the video for Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf". He also worked with Kim Carnes, Icehouse, Spandau Ballet, Fleetwood Mac ("Gypsy"), Billy Joel, Bonnie Tyler ("Total Eclipse of the Heart"), the Motels, Rod Stewart, and Elton John.

He even appeared briefly in the video for "I'm Still Standing" (1983) by Elton John, which he also directed.

Mulcahy said that when he first started, people just sent him the song. He would listen, get ideas, and shoot the video a day or two later. He said it was about "grab what you can and do it."

A music executive from Warner Bros. called Mulcahy's style "everything but the kitchen sink." She said his work was expensive but worth it. She compared his videos to famous musicals.

Mulcahy worked closely with Duran Duran. He directed their early key songs that helped them become famous worldwide. He said they "just hit it off."

Directing Feature Films

Mulcahy's first major movie was Razorback (1984) in Australia. The movie didn't make a lot of money at first, but it later became a cult favorite. He said he always tries to have a good team around him. He wants everyone to feel important and proud of their work.

After Razorback, Mulcahy went back to directing music videos. He worked with Culture Club, Elton John, Berlin, and the Rolling Stones. His work for Duran Duran was especially praised. This included the video for "Wild Boys" and the concert video Arena (An Absurd Notion).

Highlander: A Fantasy Hit

In 1985, Mulcahy directed the popular movie Highlander. It starred Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery. The band Queen made music for the film. Mulcahy loved the story, especially the action and the way it jumped between different times. He also liked the sad, epic romance in the story.

Mulcahy directed several Queen music videos for the Highlander soundtrack. One was "A Kind of Magic". He also directed videos for Billy Joel, Kim Carnes, Kenny Loggins, Def Leppard, Elton John, and Rod Stewart.

He later directed the Highlander sequel, Highlander II: The Quickening (1991). However, he was unhappy with how the movie turned out. A company that helped pay for the film changed things during production. He wanted his name taken off the movie. He later got to make a new version of the film for video, called Highlander II: The Renegade Version, which was closer to his original ideas.

Focusing on Movies

Mulcahy started to focus more on directing movies. Most of these were action or thriller films. They included Ricochet (1991) with Denzel Washington, Blue Ice (1992) with Michael Caine, and The Real McCoy (1993) with Kim Basinger. He also directed The Shadow (1994) with Alec Baldwin and Silent Trigger (1996) with Dolph Lundgren.

He was asked to direct Rambo III (1988). But he had different ideas from the star and writer, Sylvester Stallone. So, Mulcahy left the project. He said it was "nobody's fault" and that he and Stallone remained friends.

He continued to direct a few music videos for artists like Elton John. He also started directing TV shows. These included Tales from the Crypt and The Hunger. He directed the movies Tale of the Mummy (1998) and Resurrection (1999). Resurrection also starred Christopher Lambert from Highlander.

Later Career and Television Work

In the 2000s, Mulcahy worked more and more on television. He directed On the Beach (2000), which was filmed in Australia. He also directed The Lost Battalion (2001) and 1st to Die (2003). He directed episodes for TV series like Queer as Folk and Jeremiah.

He returned to movies with the Australian film Swimming Upstream (2003). But he mostly directed TV movies. These included 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story (2004), Mysterious Island (2005), and The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (2006). He also directed The Sitter (2007), The Scorpion King: Rise of a Warrior (2008), and Prayers for Bobby (2009).

He directed the movies Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) and Give 'em Hell Malone (2009).

Mulcahy was a very important director for the Teen Wolf TV series. He directed many episodes throughout its run. He also directed episodes of Eye Candy and The Lizzie Borden Chronicles. He returned to movies with In Like Flynn (2018).

Personal Life

Russell Mulcahy lives in West Hollywood, California, with his partner, David Guzman.

Filmography

Feature Films Directed

• Derek and Clive Get the Horn (1979)
• Razorback (1984)
• Highlander (1986)
• Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
• Ricochet (1991)
• Blue Ice (1992)
• The Real McCoy (1993)
• The Shadow (1994)
• Silent Trigger (1996)
• Tale of the Mummy (1998)
• Resurrection (1999)
• Swimming Upstream (2003)
• Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
• Give 'em Hell, Malone (2009)
• In Like Flynn (2018)
• Teen Wolf: The Movie (2023)

Movies Written

• Bait (2012) (He was also a main producer for this film)

Concert Videos Directed

• As the Lights Go Down (1984)
• Arena (An Absurd Notion) (1985)

Direct-to-Video Films Directed

• The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (2008)
• Give 'em Hell, Malone (2009)

Television Series Directed

Television Movies Directed

• On the Beach (2000)
• The Lost Battalion (2001)
• 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story (2004)
• Mysterious Island (2005)
• The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (2006)
• While the Children Sleep (2007)
• Prayers for Bobby (2009)

See also

In Spanish: Russell Mulcahy para niños