Russell Mulcahy (/mʌlˈkæhi/ mul-KA-hee;[1][2] born 23 June 1953) is an Australian director of film, television, and music videos.
He joined Jon Roseman Productions International and made successful music videos for several noted British pop acts—his early UK credits included Culture Club, the Human League, the Stranglers, XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel" (1979), the Sex Pistols and Paul McCartney.
"[7] In 1978, he went to the United States (for Roseman) and directed videos for The Cryers and Candi Staton - where he first used the "jump cut" - under producer Paul Flattery.
Other Mulcahy innovations included spot colour, body painting, glass matte shots and faux widescreen aspect ratio (first used on his Ultravox and Rod Stewart videos) which have all become standards for the genre.
In 1980 he joined Lexi Godfrey, Scott Millaney, Brian Grant, and David Mallet to form the video company MGMM.
[9] He had notable collaborations in particular with Ultravox, Duran Duran (especially "Hungry Like the Wolf"), Kim Carnes, Icehouse, Spandau Ballet, Fleetwood Mac ("Gypsy") (1982), Billy Joel ("Allentown" & "Matter of Trust"), Bonnie Tyler (including "Total Eclipse of the Heart") (1983), the Motels, Rod Stewart ("Young Turks") (1981) and Elton John.
"[7] Warner Bros music chief Jo Berggman called Mulcahy's style "everything but the kitchen sink and more school of video.
"[7] In 1982, Mulcahy said he had been approached to make a feature film about a movie palace by David Puttnam, who had success working with first time directors from TV commercials.
He later said: From my videos and continuing on through RAZORBACK and after, I've always made sure I have a group around me that are as important as me, and people whose expertise and talent I want and encourage.
[7]Mulcahy went back to video clips working with Culture Club, Elton John, Berlin and the Rolling Stones.
[13] In 1985, Mulcahy directed the cult film Highlander, starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery, featuring music from Queen.
He eventually took the opportunity to restore his vision for the film, to a large extent, with the video release of Highlander II: The Renegade Version.
Mulcahy began to focus on features, mostly action/thrillers, such as Ricochet (1991) with Denzel Washington, Blue Ice (1992) with Michael Caine, The Real McCoy (1993) with Kim Basinger, The Shadow (1994) with Alec Baldwin and Silent Trigger (1996) with Dolph Lundgren.
In the 21st century, Mulcahy's work was increasingly on the small screen: On the Beach (2000), filmed in Australia based on the novel by Neville Shute; The Lost Battalion (2001), with Rick Schroder; and 1st to Die (2003); he also did episodes of Queer as Folk, The Young Lions, Jeremiah and Skin.
Mulcahy was a key director on the Teen Wolf TV series throughout its run and also directed episodes of Eye Candy and The Lizzie Borden Chronicles.