Legendary Hollywood cameraman Nick McLean set to deliver Irish masterclass

There’s exciting news for film buffs with the announcement that, on February 23 and March 2, famed Hollywood filmmaker Nick McLean will be joined by Naas author and film historian Wayne Byrne for a brace of masterclasses for Dublin Business School.

The lectures with be split into two subjects, the first covering McLean’s career as a camera operator on some of the biggest releases of the New Hollywood era, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Obsession, McCabe & Mrs Miller, The Deer Hunter, Marathon Man, and The Rolling Stones’ concert film, Let’s Spend the Night Together.

The second class will focus on McLean’s acclaimed work as a cinematographer on box office hits and cult classics of the 1980s such as The Goonies, Spaceballs, Staying Alive, Cobra, Willow, City Heat, and the hit 90s TV shows Friends, Cybill, and Evening Shade.

Byrne, a former writer for Hot Press, has authored several highly acclaimed books on cinema, including a film biography of McLean entitled Nick McLean Behind The Camera: The Life and Works of a Hollywood Cinematographer, co-written with the filmmaker and released in March 2020.

Byrne’s other work includes books on American indie auteur Tom DiCillo, Hollywood legend Burt Reynolds, and he is due to release his latest book, a history of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, in the coming months.

These classes will be accessed via Zoom and will give film fans an opportunity to hear McLean discuss his working relationships with directors aged actors such as Steven Spielberg, Brian De Palma, Michael Cimino, Hal Ashby, Robert Altman, Mel Brooks, George Lucas, John Schlesinger, Sylvester Stallone, and Burt Reynolds, as well as offering an insight into the making of many revered films.

There will be a Q&A at the end of each session for attendees to ask the eminent McLean directly about his work filming these many classics.

Free tickets for these masterclasses are available via Eventbrite, here and here.