Bruce McDonald

Directing

Bruce McDonald

Born May 28, 1959 · Kingston, Ontario, Canada (age 67)

Bruce McDonald (born May 28, 1959) is a Canadian film and television director, writer and producer. He is known for his award-winning cult films Roadkill (1989) and Hard Core Logo (1996). He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave.

Known For

PontypoolPontypool · 2009
Pontypool
★ 6.52009
MovieHorrorMystery
When disc jockey Grant Mazzy reports to his basement radio station in the Canadian town of Pontypool, he thinks it's just another day at work. But when he hears reports of a virus that turns people into zombies, Mazzy barricades himself in the radio booth and tries to figure out a way to warn his listeners about the virus and its unlikely mode of transmission.
My Babysitter's a VampireMy Babysitter's a Vampire · 2010
My Babysitter's a Vampire
★ 7.12010
MovieComedyAdventure
Geeky 14-year old Ethan is left to babysit his younger sister, Jane, with his best friend Benny but after Ethan inadvertently puts Jane in harm's way, his parents hire a professional babysitter, the beautiful yet mysterious 17-year-old Sarah who, unbeknownst to them, is actually a fledgling vampire.
Hard Core LogoHard Core Logo · 1996
Hard Core Logo
★ 6.61996
MovieDramaComedy
Bruce Macdonald follows punk bank Hard Core Logo on a harrowing last-gasp reunion tour throughout Western Canada. As magnetic lead-singer Joe Dick holds the whole magilla together through sheer force of will, all the tensions and pitfalls of life on the road come bubbling to the surface.
HellionsHellions · 2015
Hellions
★ 3.92015
MovieHorror
A teen faces a night of terror when three malevolent trick-or-treaters come knocking at her door.
Last NightLast Night · 1998
Last Night
★ 6.61998
MovieComedyRomance
Various citizens of Toronto anxiously await the end of the world, which is occurring at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day.
Picture ClairePicture Claire · 2001
Picture Claire
★ 5.62001
MovieThriller
Quebec native Claire Beaucage has a one-night stand with a photographer of some renown. Despite the language barrier between them, he invites her to visit him in Toronto. She shows up on his doorstep after an arson attack leaves her homeless, but soon finds herself caught up in a case of murder and mistaken identity.
Family ViewingFamily Viewing · 1987
Family Viewing
★ 5.41987
MovieDrama
An emotionally constrained view of the displacement of human feelings in our video saturated society. Van regularly visits his grandmother in a run-down nursing home. His father depends on phone sex for guidance meanwhile erasing family homevideos of happier times with homemade pornography. Will Van rescue his grandmother and memories of his mother in time?
The Tracey FragmentsThe Tracey Fragments · 2007
The Tracey Fragments
★ 5.92007
MovieDrama
Tracey Berkowitz, 15, a self-described normal girl, loses her 9-year old brother, Sonny. In flashbacks and fragments, we meet her overbearing parents and the sweet, clueless Sonny. We watch Tracey navigate high school, friendless, picked on and teased. She develops a thing for Billy Zero, a new student, imagining he's her boyfriend. We see the day she loses Sonny and we watch her try to find him.

Filmography

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Hard Core Logo 2Hard Core Logo 2 · 2010
Hard Core Logo 2
★ 4.62010
MovieComedy
Bruce McDonald’s long-awaited follow-up to his cult classic mock-doc stars McDonald himself as "Bruce," the director of Hard Core Logo, who has relocated to L.A. and scored a profitable gig as a TV director. When the show he’s been working on is suddenly put on hiatus, Bruce is at loose ends. When he hears that punk rocker Care Failure (played by real-life musician Care Failure) has claimed that she channelled the spirit of Hard Core Logo’s late singer Joe Dick while writing songs for her new album, Bruce hies to Saskatchewan, where Failure and her band Die Mannequin are recording the album under the tutelage of Dick’s idol and former mentor Bucky Haight (Julian Richings, who played the same role in the original film).

Director

Less Than KindLess Than Kind · 2008
Less Than Kind
★ 7.02008
SeriesDramaComedy
Less Than Kind is a Canadian television comedy-drama series that stars Jesse Camacho as Sheldon Blecher, a teenager growing up in a loving but dysfunctional Jewish family in Winnipeg. The show's cast also includes Maury Chaykin and Wendel Meldrum as Sheldon's parents, Benjamin Arthur as his older brother Josh, and Nancy Sorel as his aunt, Clara. The Blechers struggle to operate a driving school out of their home in Winnipeg's fading North End. Less Than Kind made its debut October 13, 2008, on Citytv, and moved to HBO Canada in February 2010. The ensemble cast of the critically acclaimed series won Canadian Comedy Awards in 2009 and 2010.Less Than Kind received the 2010 Gemini Award for Best Comedy Program or Series and the inaugural award for Best Comedy Series at the 2013 Canadian Screen Awards. The title sequence and logo for Less Than Kind were inspired by an iconic highway sign at Winnipeg's Confusion Corner intersection, depicting arrows pointing in every direction. The name of the series is found in the first line spoken by Hamlet: "A little more than kin, and less than kind."

Director

Radio Free RoscoeRadio Free Roscoe · 2003
Radio Free Roscoe
★ 6.52003
SeriesDramaComedy
Radio Free Roscoe was a Canadian television series filmed in Toronto, Ontario. The show was produced by Decode Entertainment, and it first aired on 1 August 2003 on Family, in Canada. It has also been dubbed in French in the province of Quebec and aired on VRAK.TV. The show was later aired on The N in the United States, where the show received funding for a second season. The series ended on 27 May 2005 because The N decided to stop funding the show, and Family, along with Decode Entertainment, could not fill the gap in the production budget. The show was shown on Family until 2007, when it was replaced. In early 2008, The N began rebroadcasting reruns. The pilot was first filmed in New Jersey, with an entirely different cast. Then, the show was going to be based in Nutley, New Jersey and was titled Radio Free Nutley. The show was never picked up until Decode Entertainment decided to move production to Toronto and change the cast and title of the show. However, the show was still set in suburban New Jersey.

Director