Filmmakers Making A Social Impact: Why & How Filmmaker Lochlainn McKenna Is Helping To Change Our World

Interview with Guernslye Honorés

Be kind. It’s simple. I live by it. Just be kind and generous — especially with your time — to everyone you meet. Always.

As a part of our series called “Filmmaker making a social impact”, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Lochlainn McKenna.

Lochlainn McKenna was born on May 22, 1993 in Cork, Ireland. He is a director and writer, known for Keane: Love Too Much (2019), Pockets (2015) and Westlife: Better Man (2019).

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit of the ‘backstory’ of how you grew up?

Hello! My name is Lochlainn McKenna, I’m the writer and director of Two For The Road. I was born and raised in Cork City, Ireland. I grew up modestly, and, as my mother told me recently I would often say “No matter what happens, I’m not working in an office!” I was right, but had no idea what that might be. I found acting when I was in school and went at that hell for leather from 16 onwards. I went on to study acting in University College Cork and after acting in dozens of student shorts realised I just loved being on set. I took any work I could and climbed the ladder, so to speak, working in a variety of positions: runner, assistant director, casting and producing before eventually finding directing, accidentally. Which, thankfully, I am now absolutely enamoured with it and realise it was what I was meant to do all along.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

It was sort of just a combination of blind optimism and precociousness really. I was keen to find anyone at all who would help advance my career. My mother suggested I seek out a man she had been in school with some 20 years prior that she thought might be in the industry. I researched him and sought him out and I remember rocking up to this warehouse in the middle of nowhere and knocking on the door and offering my services as an actor to this stranger. Turns out he was a gaffer (chief of on-set lighting) and could, obviously, not cast me in any productions. However, he told me that his brother was a director and that I should speak to him. Which I did… and that was the catalyst that started my career in film.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your filmmaking career?

Ha! There are so many mad stories! It’s one of the reasons I love this industry. I think it suits rogues and renegades and we kind of find each other. I remember shooting a TVC for Toyota years ago and the DOPs van with all his camera kit was stolen the morning of the shoot because he had left it open while he went inside to brush his teeth. He tells the story pretty hilariously of him chasing the van down the street with the toothpaste all over his face and the toothbrush still in hand. We managed to get kit and still shoot the ad finish on time and get his van and kit back which was a pretty incredible result!

I was the Irish producer on two episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County which was just generally an insane experience shooting with them all over Ireland. Definitely one for the scrapbook!

Another one was flying to Ethiopia for a charity shoot and our camera got impounded on arrival and we needed to get someone from the UN to come to the airport to release it, and us. I always remember that her name was Messi, like the footballer! Thanks Messi!

Honestly, there are so many… we’d have to sit down for a pint to go through them all!

Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?

I won’t name names, but I met a man in the early stages of my career who was an incredible character and who I’m extremely grateful for. He would have been one of the biggest influences on my career really. I’m not sure I would have been directing without him. He was a colourful character, to say the least. I know a production designer who went to prison for holding up a post office at gunpoint as well, that’s amazing. He’s brilliant too.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

One person who was a massive influence on me was the late, great Anthony Taylor. He produced all my commercials when I first came to London from Ireland and was just a wonderful, professional, wise father figure. He was an incredible gentleman and had a manner about him that was truly enviable. We filmed a series of US TV commercials in Ukraine together and that remains one of my career highlights. He was so generous with his time and considerate of everyone but yet was incredible at getting the job done. Thorough. I still maintain that organisation is key and Anthony would have been influential in my feeling and understanding that. I often think of him if I’m in a production bind… “what would Anthony do?”

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My mother (recurring theme here it seems!) often says “err on the side of doing”. An obvious play on “err on the side of caution”. That often comes in handy when doubt or uncertainty has crept in. It’s always better to do — even if it’s the wrong choice — than to stagnate and do nothing!

I am very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

Look at someone like Serena Williams winning 23 grand slams and then you have a 19-year-old Coco Gauff coming onto the scene at 19 and winning her first US Open. Young people coming through in the industry need idols to look up to and I think that’s not just relevant for actors and models but literally in every single crew position. If you’re a Hispanic woman, for example, and you have an interest in working in the camera department and you arrive on set as a camera trainee on day one and the 1st A.C or the DOP is also a Hispanic woman that’s obviously going to have an effect on you. That’s one reason.

Another reason is simply because the world is made up of all sorts of incredible cultures, religions, ethnicities etc. and without a diverse mixture of people throughout our industry our stories will become homogenised and skewed.

The more we diversify and care for each other and spread a multitude of varied and unique stories throughout the world via a diverse workforce of writers and storytellers the more likely we are to teach our children about the sheer expanse and incredibleness of the world from every perspective possible.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

The most exciting thing for me at the minute is that I’m writing a book that’s based on my weekends with my father when I was little. That book will be the backbone for the feature film I’m writing. It’s an expansion of Two For The Road, essentially. I’m also developing a documentary series which I’m really buzzed to get stuck into!

Which aspect of your work makes you most proud? Can you explain or give a story?

So much of being a director/writer is giving your own interpretation of the world. Tell it as you see it. I feel like I’m only in the infancy of my career, and, as cliche as it may sound, I’m just starting to find my voice. I think I’m coming to realise that my life is unique — but so is everyone else’s. I see a lot of beauty in the mundanity and the minutiae of day-to-day lives. But, at the same time, I’m also realising that my strongest tool at the minute is my own story and the life I’ve lived and am currently living. That’s one of the biggest strengths of this film — the honesty within it. I’m realising that that really translates into brilliant work and it’s something I’m hungry to push even further. So that’s one of the things I’m proud of in, say, a direct sense. The other thing which I’ve discovered recently is that the greatest joy I’ve felt from a career perspective was casting Ewan in the role of Oscar and opening his eyes to the world of film. It’s his screen debut and he is just incredible. He is the most wonderful, kind and sharp child I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with and watching him thrive through this experience has filled me with such joy and has 100% been the thing I’ve been most proud of. I’ll be pretty astonished if he doesn’t go on to have a career in film.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why.

Some of these may not be things I didn’t necessarily know when I was starting out but they are relevant all the same. In no particular order:

1. Be kind. It’s simple. I live by it. Just be kind and generous — especially with your time — to everyone you meet. Always.
2. Relationships are everything. As someone who started out with no network at all. Getting work (as a freelancer, granted) goes hand in hand with nurturing good relationships.
3. As someone said to me recently “of course you should work hard, that’s the absolute minimum” and I think that’s very true. Working hard should be ingrained in everything you do. It’s dog-eat-dog out there!
4. Saying that, take care of yourself. This industry is both rewarding and ruthless in equal measures and it can easily swallow you up. Don’t be afraid to say no. It can be very tempting to believe that if you say no you won’t get called back again. If the job is wrong for you at that place and time — say no. There’s always another job, I promise.
5. Focus on the work. Your work. And make sure it’s the best you can possibly make it.

When you create a film, which stakeholders have the greatest impact on the artistic and cinematic choices you make? Is it the viewers, the critics, the financiers, or your own personal artistic vision? Can you share a story with us or give an example about what you mean?

I try (emphasis on try) to stay as true to myself and my artistic vision as possible. I work in commercials a lot so that’s a different beast entirely, obviously. I always say a director should never give more than 60 or 70 per cent of themselves to a commercial, it would absolutely destroy you otherwise.

I’m pretty new to the world of cinema but thus far, I feel like it’s important to know your audience but the film has to be for you first and foremost and then people will feed into that. I think it’s probably quite dangerous to make work for other people.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

There is so much desolation in the world. Innocent people are constantly affected by war, starvation, and disease… let alone the ever-worsening climate situation. I think the climate is probably the most rapidly worsening issue that will affect most people worldwide in the near future. I’d probably start a movement that would free up global expenditure to reinvest into more renewables and future-facing solutions to save the planet.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this. :-)

I don’t know if there is anyone, to be honest. I’ve never idolised anyone that wasn’t within my reach, really. There’s a host of actors I’d love to work with and maybe a couple of directors I’d like to have dinner with… rubbish answer, sorry!

Let’s go with Sophia Coppola or Joachim Trier! Actually, I tried to get Michael Fassbender in Two For The Road but couldn’t get to him so maybe him actually… especially with this feature coming up all ;-)

How can our readers further follow you online?

Go to my website: www.locky.film or my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/locky.film/?hl=en-gb

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

My pleasure! Thank you!

About the interviewer: Guernslye Honoré, affectionately known as “Gee-Gee”, is an amalgamation of creativity, vision, and endless enthusiasm. She has elegantly twined the worlds of writing, acting, and digital marketing into an inspiring tapestry of achievement. As the creative genius at the heart of Esma Marketing & Publishing, she leads her team to unprecedented heights with her comprehensive understanding of the industry and her innate flair for innovation. Her boundless passion and sense of purpose radiate from every endeavor she undertakes, turning ideas into reality and creating a realm of infinite possibilities. A true dynamo, Gee-Gee’s name has become synonymous with inspirational leadership and the art of creating success.