John McKay is a leading writer and director emerging now as a producer – his movies include CRUSH with Andie Macdowell and Imelda Staunton, PICCADILLY JIM with Sam Rockwell and Allison Janney, and NOT ANOTHER HAPPY ENDING with Karen Gillan and Stanley Weber; TV includes leading series such as LIFE ON MARS, SHETLAND and LIP SERVICE, as well as single dramas A WASTE OF SHAME with Rupert Graves and Tom Sturridge (RTS nomination, Best Single Drama), and his film on the love affair between David Bailey and Jean Shrimpton WE’LL TAKE MANHATTAN - which he wrote, directed and exec produced - which won the Prix Europa for Best Drama; as well as the charming young adult tv film KATY, winner of Rocky and BAFTA awards 2018, and of the International Emmy 2020.
In 2017 John set up Glasgow-based production company Compact Pictures where he produced BFI/SFTN short “1745”, Morayo Akande’s powerful story of two black slave girls escaping into 18th century Scotland (BAFTA Scotland and BIFA nominations Best Short, AFRIFF and Underwire prizewinner Best Short); before going on to complete a first feature film as producer, Aylin Tezel’s romantic drama FALLING INTO PLACE, co-produced with Silver Bear -winning Weydemann Bros of Berlin, selected in Competition at POFF Tallinn Black Nights 2024, winning the FIPRESCI Critics Prize there and the Bayerischer Filmpreis for Best Director; and going on to be selected for its UK premiere at Glasgow Film Festival 2024 and Raindance London 2024, before being released theatrically throughout Europe and worldwide in 2024, and securing a UK release in May 2025 with Bulldog Distribution. John was long listed as a BIFA Breakthrough Producer for his work on the film.
In TV, John McKay went on to produce and direct BAFTA-nominated MY MUM TRACY BEAKER, a 90 minute anniversary single drama for CBBC’s treasured brand which trended no1 on Twitter and became BBC Kids biggest-ever programme opening; and more recently to produce THE PRIMROSE RAILWAY CHILDREN for BBC Studios and BBC1, a 90 minute feature retelling of E Nesbit’s classic re-set in Scotland with Kevin McKidd in the lead - which also won an Emmy in March 2026.
In 2022 McKay re-founded a new company, Compact Ltd, with queer working class Edinburgh-based producer Laura McBride, to create distinctive work at the commercial end of indie cinema, and the sharp end of TV drama and comedy, with a radar that spans both diverse new talent and classic literary and cultural sources; regionally-based and channelling authentic voices from our place in the world, but also proudly European and internationally-faced.
Breaking News: in summer 2026 Compact will co-produce Paul Laverty’s latest feature project OPERATION WIPEOUT with Potboiler, BBC Film and StudioCanal.
