John McKenna (director)


John is an award-winning TV director and documentary filmmaker. He was born in St. Helens and has a history degree from the University of Leicester. He started his career in Television at ITV sport in 1995.

Sports

John spent 13 years at ITV Sport in the UK, working his way up from runner to Creative Director, before going freelance in 2009. He has won several awards for Titles, Edited sequences and Live Directing. He was a Studio Director on Channel 4’s BAFTA winning coverage of the Paralympics in 2012 and is an experienced Live Sport Director. He has been BAFTA nominated a further three times. He runs a successful Promotional Trailers team that has delivered global content during the last two FIFA World Cups, the UEFA European Championships and the Olympic Games.

Documentary

John was the Producer/Director on – a feature documentary that was one of only two British films to be an official selection for the Cannes Film Festival in 2015. He has performed this role on several acclaimed television documentaries in the UK. The last of these was The Fight of their Lives, which was BAFTA nominated in 2012 in the Single Documentary category. John also produced and directed the Grierson nominated Clough.

Awards

He has won five Royal Television Society Awards, three Sportel Golden Podium Awards and a British Comedy Award as Series Director on acclaimed show The Last Leg on Channel 4.