# Adam McKay
**Adam McKay** (born 1968 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer who moved from Chicago improv comedy and *Saturday Night Live* into studio comedies with [Will Ferrell](https://www.edgepedia.org/will-ferrell), then into political and financial satire with *The Big Short*, *Vice*, and *Don't Look Up*.[1](https://www.secondcity.com/people/adam-mckay) He won the [Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-award-for-best-adapted-screenplay) for *The Big Short* (2015) and was nominated for Best Director for the same film.[1](https://www.secondcity.com/people/adam-mckay)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1968, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania[2](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/n00024736) |
| Directed features | Anchorman (2004), Talladega Nights (2006), Step Brothers (2008), The Other Guys (2010), Anchorman 2 (2013), The Big Short (2015), Vice (2018), Don't Look Up (2021)[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/270241-Adam-McKay) |
| Academy Awards | Won Best Adapted Screenplay for The Big Short; nominated for Best Director; Don't Look Up received four nominations including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay[1](https://www.secondcity.com/people/adam-mckay) • [4](https://newsletter.oscars.org/news/post/dont-look-up-writer-director-adam-mckay-explains-how-he-finds-look-and-tone) |
| Companies | Gary Sanchez Productions (2006, with Will Ferrell, dissolved 2019); Funny or Die (2007, with Ferrell); Hyperobject Industries (2019)[5](https://variety.com/exec/adam-mckay/) • [1](https://www.secondcity.com/people/adam-mckay) • [6](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/adam-mckay-interview-dont-look-up-will-ferrell-1235058377/) |
| Television | Executive producer of Succession, which drew 2.9 million viewers for its 2023 finale and 27 Emmy nominations that year; also Drunk History, Eastbound & Down, Winning Time[5](https://variety.com/exec/adam-mckay/) • [1](https://www.secondcity.com/people/adam-mckay) |
| Signature style | Fourth-wall breaks, mixed film formats, and satire aimed at financial, political, and media systems[7](https://www.emmys.com/news/features/adam-mckays-game-changers) |
## Early life and improv background
McKay was born in Philadelphia in 1968.[2](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/n00024736) He dropped out of [Temple University](https://www.edgepedia.org/temple-university), sold his comic book collection, and moved to Chicago to pursue comedy, where he studied under [Del Close](https://www.edgepedia.org/del-close) at [The Second City](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-second-city).[1](https://www.secondcity.com/people/adam-mckay) He performed in Second City's 80th Mainstage revue, *Piñata Full of Bees*, and helped found the Upright Citizens Brigade with Amy Poehler, Matt Walsh, and Horatio Sanz.[1](https://www.secondcity.com/people/adam-mckay)
In 1995 he was hired as a writer at *Saturday Night Live*, becoming head writer a year later at age 28; the job next went to [Tina Fey](https://www.edgepedia.org/tina-fey). NPR dates his tenure on the show from 1995 to 2001.[1](https://www.secondcity.com/people/adam-mckay) • [8](https://www.npr.org/2021/04/05/984525431/adam-mckay) By the time of his directing debut, he had also made short film segments and appeared in bit parts on SNL.[9](https://www.npr.org/2004/07/08/3209011/film-director-adam-mckay)
## Partnership with Will Ferrell
McKay's feature career is inseparable from Will Ferrell's. He co-wrote and directed *Anchorman*, *Talladega Nights*, and *Step Brothers* with Ferrell, and in 2007 the two founded the comedy video site [Funny or Die](https://www.edgepedia.org/funny-or-die).[1](https://www.secondcity.com/people/adam-mckay) Their production company, Gary Sanchez Productions, was founded in 2006.[5](https://variety.com/exec/adam-mckay/) Within it, McKay was a driving force behind HBO's *Succession*, and the affiliated Gloria Sanchez Productions, run by Jessica Elbaum, made *Hustlers*.[6](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/adam-mckay-interview-dont-look-up-will-ferrell-1235058377/)
**The 2019 split.** After nearly fourteen years, the partnership dissolved in 2019. McKay had turned to more serious subjects, writing and directing *The Big Short* about the 2008 financial crisis and *Vice*, a biopic of [Dick Cheney](https://www.edgepedia.org/dick-cheney), and wanted to produce more; Ferrell did not share those ambitions, and the two had grown apart.[6](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/adam-mckay-interview-dont-look-up-will-ferrell-1235058377/) McKay later told Vanity Fair in 2021, "I should have called him, and I didn't. So it ended not well."[7](https://www.emmys.com/news/features/adam-mckays-game-changers) In a later [Business Insider](https://www.edgepedia.org/business-insider) interview he said he is "totally open to the idea" of working with Ferrell again.[5](https://variety.com/exec/adam-mckay/)
## Comedy features
*Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy* (2004) was McKay's first feature-length work.[9](https://www.npr.org/2004/07/08/3209011/film-director-adam-mckay) The American Film Institute Catalog lists 19 titles in his filmography and credits him as director of *Anchorman* (2004), *Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby* (2006), *Step Brothers* (2008), *The Other Guys* (2010), *Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues* (2013), and *The Big Short* (2015).[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/270241-Adam-McKay) His writing credits include those films plus *Get Hard* (2015, story), *Ant-Man* (2015, screenplay), and *The Big Short* (2015, screenplay).[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/270241-Adam-McKay) McKay has described the early comedies as "mediocre white man movies" about entitled, prideful white guys.[7](https://www.emmys.com/news/features/adam-mckays-game-changers)
He also produced comedies for other directors through AFI-credited producer slots on *Bachelorette* (2012), *Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters* (2013), *Tammy* (2014), *Get Hard* (2015), *Welcome to Me* (2015), *Sleeping with Other People* (2015), and *Daddy's Home* (2015).[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/270241-Adam-McKay)
## Turn to political and financial satire
McKay's shift toward socio-political filmmaking began in 2015 with *The Big Short*, followed by *Vice* in 2018 and *Don't Look Up* in 2021. He has described the three as a trilogy about living in a time of seismic shift, change, and to some degree collapse.[4](https://newsletter.oscars.org/news/post/dont-look-up-writer-director-adam-mckay-explains-how-he-finds-look-and-tone) A Television Academy feature traces the throughline of societal critique across his work: the financial system in *The Big Short*, Washington malfeasance in *Vice*, corporate wickedness in *Succession*, and climate-change denial in *Don't Look Up*.[7](https://www.emmys.com/news/features/adam-mckays-game-changers)
*The Big Short* won McKay the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, was nominated for Best Picture, and earned him a Best Director nomination.[1](https://www.secondcity.com/people/adam-mckay) *Don't Look Up* received four Academy Award nominations: Best Score, Best Editing, and two for McKay, Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture.[4](https://newsletter.oscars.org/news/post/dont-look-up-writer-director-adam-mckay-explains-how-he-finds-look-and-tone)
## Television and producing work
McKay's executive producer credits include *Drunk History*, *Eastbound & Down*, *Bad Judge*, and *The Chris Gethard Show*, and he sits on the advisory board of the Harold Ramis Film School.[1](https://www.secondcity.com/people/adam-mckay) He was nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special in 2009 for *Will Ferrell: You're Welcome America. A Final Night*, and for Outstanding Drama Series in 2020 and 2023 as executive producer of *Succession* (HBO, in association with Project Zeus, Hyperobject Industries, Gary Sanchez Productions, and Hot Seat).[10](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/adam-mckay)
**Hyperobject Industries.** McKay founded Hyperobject Industries in 2019, headquartered in Hollywood, after dissolving the Gary Sanchez partnership.[6](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/adam-mckay-interview-dont-look-up-will-ferrell-1235058377/) The company holds a first-look television deal with HBO/[HBO Max](https://www.edgepedia.org/hbo-max), covering a 1980s Lakers miniseries, *Q: Into the Storm*, and an Epstein project, and a first-look film deal with Apple, which boarded its *Bad Blood* feature about Theranos founder [Elizabeth Holmes](https://www.edgepedia.org/elizabeth-holmes); it also produced the Searchlight satire *The Menu*.[6](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/adam-mckay-interview-dont-look-up-will-ferrell-1235058377/) His producing partner of more than a decade, Kevin Messick, is now a partner at Hyperobject, whose slate also includes a Parasite series and the underdog-versus-Walmart series *Kings of America*.[7](https://www.emmys.com/news/features/adam-mckays-game-changers)
*Winning Time*, the HBO series about the 1980s Lakers, is McKay's first work dealing explicitly with race and Black culture's impact on American culture; he directed the pilot and served as guide and consultant for subsequent episodes.[7](https://www.emmys.com/news/features/adam-mckays-game-changers)
## Style and craft
McKay's later work blends drama, satire, and commentary with unorthodox techniques: characters break the fourth wall, and the visual texture changes from project to project. On *Winning Time* the production shot with a 1979 Ikegami video camera, which makes footage look as if it came from 1979, alongside Super 8 and 35mm film with an [Ektachrome](https://www.edgepedia.org/ektachrome) process.[7](https://www.emmys.com/news/features/adam-mckays-game-changers)
For the political trilogy he rebuilt his creative team. His earlier comedies used cinematographer Oliver Wood and editor Brent White; the trilogy instead paired him with editor Hank Corwin and composer [Nicholas Britell](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicholas-britell).[4](https://newsletter.oscars.org/news/post/dont-look-up-writer-director-adam-mckay-explains-how-he-finds-look-and-tone) Each of the three films used a different cinematographer, Barry Ackroyd on *The Big Short*, Greig Fraser on *Vice*, and Linus Sandgren on *Don't Look Up*, reflecting McKay's stated belief that each movie should have its own language.[4](https://newsletter.oscars.org/news/post/dont-look-up-writer-director-adam-mckay-explains-how-he-finds-look-and-tone)
## By the numbers
*Don't Look Up* was a $100 million film that McKay directed and produced, released in select theaters on December 10, 2021, and streaming on Netflix from December 24, 2021, starring [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://www.edgepedia.org/leonardo-dicaprio), Jennifer Lawrence, and Rob Morgan as scientists warning of a comet strike.[6](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/adam-mckay-interview-dont-look-up-will-ferrell-1235058377/) In 2023 the *Succession* finale drew 2.9 million viewers across HBO and Max on airdate, the most-watched episode of the series, and the show received 27 Emmy nominations, the most of any program that year.[5](https://variety.com/exec/adam-mckay/) His awards record includes one Academy Award win with a further Best Director nomination for *The Big Short*, two nominations for McKay for *Don't Look Up*, and Emmy nominations in 2009, 2020, and 2023.[1](https://www.secondcity.com/people/adam-mckay) • [4](https://newsletter.oscars.org/news/post/dont-look-up-writer-director-adam-mckay-explains-how-he-finds-look-and-tone) • [10](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/adam-mckay)
## What has changed since 2023
The 2023 Emmy cycle capped *Succession* with its record finale and 27 nominations.[5](https://variety.com/exec/adam-mckay/) McKay's HBO series *Winning Time* ended after two seasons, and he sold the comedy feature *Average Height, Average Build* to Netflix, with [Robert Pattinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-pattinson) and Amy Adams attached to star.[5](https://variety.com/exec/adam-mckay/)
## References
1. [Adam McKay — The Second City](https://www.secondcity.com/people/adam-mckay)
2. [McKay, Adam, 1968- — LC Linked Data Service, Library of Congress](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/n00024736)
3. [AFI Catalog — Adam McKay](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/270241-Adam-McKay)
4. ['Don't Look Up' Writer-Director Adam McKay Explains How He Finds Look and Tone Through Collaboration — Academy](https://newsletter.oscars.org/news/post/dont-look-up-writer-director-adam-mckay-explains-how-he-finds-look-and-tone)
5. [Adam McKay — Variety500](https://variety.com/exec/adam-mckay/)
6. [Adam McKay on Will Ferrell, Don't Look Up, Rust Tragedy — The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/adam-mckay-interview-dont-look-up-will-ferrell-1235058377/)
7. [Adam McKay's Game Changers — Emmys.com](https://www.emmys.com/news/features/adam-mckays-game-changers)
8. [Adam McKay — Bullseye with Jesse Thorn, NPR](https://www.npr.org/2021/04/05/984525431/adam-mckay)
9. [Film Director Adam McKay — NPR (2004)](https://www.npr.org/2004/07/08/3209011/film-director-adam-mckay)
10. [Adam McKay — Television Academy Emmy Awards and Nominations](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/adam-mckay)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Directors, producers, and screenwriters*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license