Russell Mulcahy (born 23 June 1953 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian film director. His work is easily recognized by his use of fast cuts, tracking shots and use of glowing lights.
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Russell Mulcahy's career began with making early music videos while he was working for the Seven Network in Sydney, Australia. In early 1974, former radio DJ Graham Webb launched a weekly teen-oriented TV music show which screened on Sydney's ATN-7 on Saturday mornings; this was subsequently renamed Sounds Unlimited in 1975 and later shortened simply to Sounds.
In need of material for the show, Webb approached Mulcahy (who was then employed in the Seven newsroom) and asked him to shoot film footage to accompany popular songs for which there were no purpose-made clips (e.g. Harry Nilsson's "Everybody's Talkin'"). Using this method, Webb and Mulcahy assembled a collection of about 25 clips for the show. The success of his early efforts encouraged Mulcahy to quit his TV job and become a freelance director, and during this period he made clips for several popular Australian acts including Stylus, Marcia Hines, Hush and AC/DC.[1]
After relocating to the UK c. 1976, Mulcahy made successful music videos for several noted British pop acts—his early UK credits included XTC's "Making Plans For Nigel" (1979), The Vapors' hit "Turning Japanese" and his landmark video for The Buggles' "Video Killed The Radio Star" (1979) which became the first music video played on MTV in 1981.[2]
By the mid-1980s Mulcahy was one of the most sought-after video makers in the world, directing videos for some of the most successful pop-rock acts of the period including The Human League, The Tubes, Elton John, Ultravox, most of the major hits of Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Kim Carnes, Bonnie Tyler, Rod Stewart, Billy Joel, The Motels, Supertramp and The Rolling Stones.[3]
He also directed videos for Taylor Dayne, Rod Stewart, Def Leppard, Boy George, Kenny Loggins, Arcadia, Falco, Go West, Cliff Richard, Fleetwood Mac, Supertramp, The Motels, Talk Talk, The Stranglers, 10cc, The Human League, XTC, and AC/DC.
In 1986, Mulcahy became well known after directing the cult classic film Highlander, starring Christopher Lambert and featuring music from Queen. He later directed the sequel, Highlander II: The Quickening, but disowned it after the producers interfered with production. Reportedly he wanted to have his credit changed to Alan Smithee, but as he was not a member of the Directors Guild of America, he had no way of forcing the producers to change the credit. He eventually took the opportunity to restore his vision for the film, to a large extent, with the video releases of Highlander II: The Renegade Version.
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