4:48PM, May 15, 2008
Born: August 9 1970
Where: Kalamazoo, Michegan, USA
First things first. That name. He was born Joseph McGinty Nichol but was nickhamed McG from birth because his uncle and grandfather both had the same name.
He first grained attention as the director of Charlie's Angels - a massive box office hit - but his biggest gig is the exulted position of helming Terminator: Salvation.
Born in Michegan, he maintains his childhood - a quick-tempered father and a hypochondriac mother - as contributing to his neurotic temperament.
"I had a lot of lonely time on my hands because I wasn't really the best-looking kid in my town and I sort of pined after girls," he says.
I had to sort of immerse myself in the arts because girls weren't particularly interested in me."
Altough he was born in Michegan, McG grew up in Newport Beach, California,and graduated with a psychology degree from University College Irvine.
An early career as a still photographer in the music business, shooting local bands and musicians, led him to form the G Recordings record label in 1993.
He worked as a producer, and sometimes co-songwriter, on Sugar Ray's first two albums, and went on to direct music videos including Smash Mouth's All Star and The Offspring's Pretty Fly (For a White Guy).
McG moved on to TV commercials, directing ads for Major League Baseball and Coca-Cola and Gap (a commercial which landed an award at the 1999 London Film Festival.)
Impressed with his flashy and energetic videos, Drew Barrymore approached McG about directing a film based on the successful Charlie's Angels TV series.
Casting Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liy alongside Barrymore as the trio of crimefighters, the movie met a mixed critical reception but was a box office success, grossing over $200m worldwide.
At the same time McG was approached to drag the Superman project out of development hell. He hired JJ Abrams (who would go on to direct the mega-successful Star Trek) but what would become Superman Returns was eventually helmed by Bryan Singer.
His name was also attached (first as director then producer) to a big screen actioner based on the Hot Wheels toy car franchise. The project is now being worked on by Joel Silver.
Flushed with debut featured success, McG took subsequently on the sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, which also rewarded its backers with a $200m turnover.
However, uninspired by the lightweight material, McG looked to "improve as a storyteller" with the 2006 American football drama We Are Marshall with Matthew McConaughey and Michael Fox.
The same year McG was on board to produce a remake of the cult hit comedy Revenge of the Nerds but development hell ensued with the project scrapped thanks to production logistics and one potential college location declaring the script "too bawdy".
He also came to grief with a planned American version of the British cult TV hit Spaced when the show's originator's - including Simon Pegg - objected to not being involved in the project.
In 2008 he was presented with his most challenging job yet - continuing the Terminator franchise with the blockbuster reboot Terminator: Salvation.
Heavily influenced by the otherworldly Children of Men, McG is seeking strike a balance between art house drama and action blockbuster.
"This is designed to be a picture shared the world over. So you've got the get the balance between that artistic take and what's right for a film that's going to be seen by a great many people."
McG was taking a gamble - for a start Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't coming back and the studio only had an early script to work on.
However, with Christian Bale - fresh from his Dark Knight glory - on board to play John Connor and a revamped script with contributors including Bond scribe Paul Haggis, the advance word is positive.
Next up is a loose remake of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea with Will Smith attached to the role of Captain Nemo.
And he's also accepted Terminator 5 with Bale back on board.
