About

Alan McDonald is a screenwriter working internationally in film, television and video games. His breakthrough feature, Anna and the Apocalypse, was released in 2018 by Orion Pictures/MGM and Vertigo Releasing. It is now streaming on multiple platforms and has become a cult Christmas hit.

He was script consultant on the BAFTA-winning BBC show Last Commanders, and was selected for the BBC Drama Writers Programme 2019, developing an original drama series with Bad Wolf (His Dark Materials; Doctor Who). He completed an unannounced thriller for Sony Pictures then made the Brit List 2020 for the most exciting unproduced UK screenplays, voted for by the industry, with his offbeat end-of-the-world drama, Last Week.

A graduate of the University of Glasgow, he was a High School teacher of English and Drama for 12 years before moving into screenwriting. He mentors young people looking to break into the screen industry, and the social issues facing younger generations – particularly those who share his working-class background – are at the centre of much of his writing. He once lived and worked in South Korea, sung in a band, and has passions for science, politics, gaming, and genre stories of all kinds, so long as they have depth and heart. Doctor Who and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in particular, are a Big Deal for him.

In his freelance capacity he is currently working on a horror feature set in the world of Big Tech for Gold Circle Films (Pitch Perfect series) and Altitude; a grounded sci fi TV drama for Five Acts (co-written with Cat Clarke); a political tech TV thriller for Motive; a sly new spin on the slasher genre for Anna partners, Blazing Griffin; a blackly-comic crime thriller for TV with Emanata Studios; and he recently completed a brand new take on a classic monster IP for The Imaginarium and Hammer Films.

He is represented by Fiona Grant at the Dench Arnold agency for his screenwriting in the U.K. and by Noah Jones at FRWD MNGT in the United States. He is also a part-time Development Executive at Blazing Griffin, working across both Pictures and Games on the company’s wide, exciting slate of projects.

A full resume and sample scripts are available upon request.