Director Profile: Greg MacGillivray

Occupation: Producer/Director/Cinematographer
Active Years: 30+
Birthplace: Southern California, USA

The art and sport of surfing inspired Greg MacGillivray's film career. In the 1960's he traveled the surfing circuit, not with his surfboard, but with his 16mm camera. His films soon played in southern California theatres and elsewhere, as the sports film genre was popularized in cities and small towns throughout the United States. MacGillivray's love for the ocean has taken him to waters around the world. He has since dedicated his film company to increasing the public's awareness of this important and fragile environment.

A pioneer in the giant screen industry, Greg MacGillivray has shot more than four million feet of 70mm film during his career — more than anyone in cinema history — and remains at the forefront of artistic and technological innovations in his field. He initiated the development of three cameras for the IMAX theater format: the high-speed (slow-motion) camera, the industry's first lightweight camera, and the "all-weather" camera used during filming on Mount Everest.

MacGillivray has also worked in Hollywood, directing and photographing for Stanley Kubrick on The Shining, and filming for Academy Award®-nominee Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Oscar®-winning Sentinels of Silence. Recent honors awarded to MacGillivray and company include an Academy Award nomination for The Living Sea for Best Documentary/Short Subject in 1995. In 1996, To Fly! was selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Film Registry, America's film archive, where it joins such classics as Gone With The Wind and Citizen Kane as one of the most important films of 100 years of American filmmaking.

In March 2001, MacGillivray released Journey into Amazing Caves, a film that takes audiences deep into the heart of some of the world's most beautiful and dangerous caves, followed by Coral Reef Adventure which was released in March of 2002. Recently MacGillivray released Greece: Secrets of the Past; he is currently working on several films including Hurricane on the Bayou, The Alps: Giants of Nature and Water Planet.

Greg MacGillivray to receive prestigious environmental award at Reef Rescue 2008 Gala By MacGillivray Freeman Films (November 5, 2008)

MFF completes principal photography for Arabia 3D By MacGillivray Freeman Films (July 21, 2008)

Telluride to Show Grand Canyon in Digital 3D By MacGillivray Freeman Films (May 22, 2008)

MFF Offers Free Download of Living Sea for Earth Day By MacGillivray Freeman Films (April 16, 2008)

Grand Canyon Adventure $1M in Box Office By MacGillivray Freeman Films (April 8, 2008)

Grand Canyon Adventure Interview: Director/Producer Greg MacGillivray By BMZ Staff (April 7, 2008)

MFF Taps Dave Matthews Band for Grand Canyon By MacGillivray Freeman Films (July 30, 2007)

World Record for Return to Everest Doctors By MacGillivray Freeman Films (May 24, 2007)

Everest Sets Giant Screen Benchmark By MacGillivray Freeman Films (April 26, 2007)

MFF Returns to Everest By MacGillivray Freeman Films (April 9, 2007)

PTC Awards Greece With Seal of Approval By The Parents Television Council™ (March 29, 2007)

Hurricane Wins La Géode Youth Prize By MacGillivray Freeman Films (February 23, 2007)

Mystery of the Nile Premieres in Ethiopia By MacGillivray Freeman Films (January 25, 2006)

New Orleans Artists on Bayou Soundtrack By MacGillivray Freeman Films (December 12, 2006)

Meryl Streep to Narrate Hurricane on the Bayou By MacGillivray Freeman Films (August 3, 2006)

Greece: Secrets of the Past Interview: Director Greg MacGillivray By BMZ Staff (February 17, 2006)

MFF Inks Nia Vardalos for Greece Film By MacGillivray Freeman Films (January 23, 2006)

MFF Films Mountaineer Harlin's Eiger Ascent By MacGillivray Freeman Films (October 6, 2005)

Mystery of the Nile Awarded Prestigious GSTA Special Achievement Award By Orbita Max (September 28, 2005)

MacGillivray Freeman Films Greenlights Giant Screen Mountain Adventure Film By MacGillivray Freeman Films (July 12, 2005)

Mystery of the Nile Interview: Director/Producer Jordi Llompart By BMZ Staff (July 8, 2005)

MFF Wraps Up Wetlands By MacGillivray Freeman Films (June 23, 2005)

Coral Reef Adventure is the Highest Grossing Docu of 2003 By MacGillivray Freeman Films (January 23, 2004)

GSTA Announces 2003 Board of Directors By GSTA (February 6, 2003)

Bryan Iguchi: Wild Californian By MacGillivray Freeman Films (Oct 2001)

GSTA Economic Impact Study© By Giant Screen Theater Association (July 12, 2001)

Dolphins Nominated For 2001 Oscar By MacGillivray Freeman Films (February 13th, 2001)

Big Movie Spotlight: Greg MacGillivray By BMZ Staff (Nov 2000)