He was offered a job with the American ad agency Chiat/Day and moved to New York City, where he later worked for Ogilvy & Mather and Margeotes Fertitta.
[1] Eventually McKendry branched out on his own, founding the company Go Film and directing award-winning commercials for clients such as IKEA.
McKendry's debut feature film was Killer Elite, an action thriller based on Sir Ranulph Fiennes' fiction novel The Feather Men.
It was filmed in Australia and starred Jason Statham, Clive Owen, and Robert De Niro.
[5] In 2011, it was announced that McKendry would direct the first film of a three-picture financing deal between Palomar Pictures and Grosvenor Park Productions.