Biography

John McKay is a creative expert and an entrepreneur. He has twice been nominated for a Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) Golden Reel Award (2002, 2003) for outstanding achievement in sound editing in film, television, and across the entertainment industry. His career in film editing, sound design and mixing spans nearly five decades and includes Peter Jackson's epic Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the supervision of multiple television series and a slew of New Zealand-based feature and short film productions, most recently James Ashcroft's acclaimed Coming Home in the Dark.

John's Sound Supervision work includes over 25 New Zealand TV series throughout the 1990's including Marlin Bay, Riding High and Starunner. Over the 2000's in addition to collaborations with Peter Jackson he worked on multiple local productions.

John has won NZ Film Awards (2000, 1992, 1987) and nominations (2013, 1995, 1992) and was a nominee in the Listener GOFTA Awards (1987).

John founded POW Studios in 2015 with Matthew Lambourn (Creative Director) and Jason Canovas (Supervising Dialogue Editor) . POW Studios' now offers full sound, picture and VFX post production services to clients all over the world, from the heart and soul of New Zealand's film industry in Wellington. POW Studios has worked with Yi Animation of Guangzhou on two feature film animations, Kung Food and the highly successful I Am What I Am.

John also has a deep commitment to nurturing local talent and is a driving force behind Create Wellington the industry led collective that represents screen businesses and practitioners, advocating on issues that influence the sustainability and success of the sector. He is a on the Board of the New Zealand Screen Music and Sound Guild.
- IMDb mini biography by: John McKay