McKinnon, Ray 1961(?)-

views updated

McKINNON, Ray 1961(?)-

PERSONAL: Born c. 1961, in Adel, GA; married Lisa Blount (an actress). Education: Attended Valdosta State University, 1981.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Judy Schoen & Associates, 606 North Larchmont Blvd., Suite 309, Los Angeles, CA 90004.

CAREER: Actor and screenwriter; co-owner, with Lisa Blount, of Ginny Mule Pictures. Actor in films, including (as trooper number one) Driving Miss Daisy, Warner Bros., 1989; (as cub reporter) Tune in Tomorrow . . . (also known as Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter), 1990; (as Harmon) Livin' Large! (also known as The Tapes of Dexter Jackson), Samuel Goldwyn, 1991; (as David Hinton) Bugsy, TriStar Pictures, 1991; (as Frank) The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag, Buena Vista, 1992; (as Lawyer Webb) Sommersby, Warner Bros., 1993; (as Bradley) A Perfect World, Warner Bros., 1993; (as Deputy Norris Ridgewick) Needful Things, Columbia, 1993; (as FIDO White), Apollo 13, Universal, 1995; (as Dale) The Net, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 1995; (as Charlie Cool, Jr.) The Grass Harp, Fine Line, 1995; (as Nathaniel Rollins) Goodbye Lover, Warner Bros., 1999; (as Harry Lehman) This Is Harry Lehman, 1999; (as Vernon T. Waldrip) O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Buena Vista, 2000; (as title role) The Accountant, Ginny Mule Pictures, 2000; and (as Craig) The Pickets, 2002.

Actor in made-for-television movies, including (as Lyle's father) Murder in Mississippi, Arts and Entertainment (A&E), 1990; (as Ken Mott) Rising Son, Turner Network Television (TNT), 1990; (as Stuart Troxel) Web of Deceit, USA Network, 1990; (as man with basketball) When Will I Be Loved? National Broadcasting Company (NBC), 1990; (as Carol Bonner) Paris Trout, Home Box Office (HBO), 1991; (as Ben Harper) Night of the Hunter, American Broadcasting Companies (ABC), 1991; (as Bob Cheshire) In the Line of Duty: Manhunt in the Dakotas (also known as In the Line of Duty: The Twilight Murders and Midnight Murders), NBC, 1991; (as Dr. Nyland) In Sickness and in Health (also known as Hearts on Fire), Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), 1992; (as Les) Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story, CBS, 1992; (as Victor) Indecency, USA Network, 1992; (as Deputy Joe Pritchard) Roswell: The U.F.O. Cover-up, Showtime, 1994; (as Buddy Rivers) Moment of Truth: Caught in the Crossfire, NBC, 1994; (as Steve Sweetzer) Forgotten Sins, ABC, 1996; (as shanty man with gun) William Faulkner's Old Man, CBS, 1997; The Price of a Broken Heart, Lifetime, 1999; and (as C. B.) The Badge, Starz, 2002.

Actor in television miniseries, including (as Lee Bob) The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, NBC, 1991; (as Charlie Campion) Steven King's The Stand, ABC, 1994; (as Will Benteen) Scarlet, CBS, 1994; and (as Long Bill Coleman) Larry McMurtry's Dead Man's Walk, ABC, 1996. Played Sheriff Rick in television series Rocky Times, 2000. Actor in television pilots, including (as Jordan McNeil) The Last Best Place, PBS, 1996; and (as senator) Grapefruit Moon, ABC, 1998. Guest star in television shows, including In the Heat of the Night, Designing Women, and John Grisham's The Client.

AWARDS, HONORS: Southeastern Media Makers Award and best narrative short, Atlanta Film and Video Festival, 2001, and Academy Award for best live action short film, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 2002, all for The Accountant; named best local filmmaker, Creative Loafing Atlanta, 2001.

WRITINGS:

(And director, actor, and co-producer) The Accountant (screenplay), Ginny Mule Pictures, 2000.

Also author of three as yet unproduced feature length screenplays.

SIDELIGHTS: Georgia native Ray McKinnon won an Academy Award for his very first film, The Accountant. McKinnon not only wrote this independent film, but also directed it, acted in it, and co-produced it, with his wife, accomplished actress Lisa Blount, with whom he owns his own production company, Ginny Mule Pictures.

The Accountant is "a darkly-comic analysis of an incarcerated Southern culture" set on a struggling fifthgeneration family farm in Georgia, Morgan Miller wrote in a review forFilmThreat.com. The farm is owned by David O'Dell, played by Atlanta native Eddie King. His brother, Tommy O'Dell, is played by Walton Coggins, a Hollywood actor and Ginny Mule Pictures' resident producer. The two brothers hire an accountant—played by McKinnon—to help them figure out how to save the farm. This accountant, a dusty, hard-drinking, chain-smoking man who drives a 1935 Chevy pickup truck, is paranoid and full of conspiracy theories, mostly about how the rest of the country is out to destroy the Southern way of life. His suggestions for saving the farm include murdering Mrs. O'Dell for the life insurance money. This dark tale is "worthy of Flannery O'Connor," Curt Holman wrote on Creative Loafing Atlanta online.