Alan Mckenna
North Hollywood Cinefest Awards Night
As Nashville continues its amazing growth, I’m now considered a rarity in these parts-- a true Nashvillian. Born and raised.
After graduating from M.T.S.U., I started to cut my teeth in the country music video boom of the 90’s. I worked as a key grip while working my way up to manage production teams with various artists such as Reba McIntyre, Toby Keith, Pam Tillis, Alan Jackson, Marty Stewart, Tracy Lawrence and many more. Not only was I immersed in the production world, I was working with a crew that shot and lit film sets. I was able to catch certain nuances with film crews that was different to what I learned in college; a video production-specific tenure.
I co-produced many short films around town for a few years, including my own that I wrote, produced and directed; garnishing numerous festival awards. For the next several years, I studied screenwriting exclusively with the Tennessee Screenwriters Association; eventually becoming President and serving on the board for several years. This also led to a stint teaching Intro To Screenwriting at Watkins College under their Continuing Adult Education department in the 2000’s.
For the next the decade, my career was exclusively based in advertising at two direct response agencies. My roles varied from Senior Producer to Brand Manager, and finally Creative Director. I fbroke out on my own nearly a decade ago, purely as a freelance producer, and have not regretted the move since. More recently, I’ve produced three major projects for the TV/Film production company, Uproar Pictures. For Uproar, I produced and shot the television pilot "Wrestling Amateur Kaos," produced the psychological horror feature film, "The Odds," (worldwide distribution) and the demonic-possession horror feature, "Gates of Flesh" scheduled to be released in fall of 2023.
Additionally, over the past few years, I have exclusively worked with A-list filmmakers and production companies across the globe building budgets, designing pitch decks, and managing productions for their film and television projects.