Alyssa McClelland

Alyssa McClelland is a director, screenwriter, producer and former actress. She directed the finale episodes of acclaimed Netflix series Sex Education and was the set-up director of Everything Now, also with Netflix. McClelland directed the successful BBC comedy series Amandaland and the award-winning short film Second Best. Prior to her directing career, she appeared in lead roles in Australian film, television and theatre.

Early life and education

Daughter of an industrial chemist father and office manager mother, McClelland was educated at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts in Sydney and was Dux in her final year. She attended the University of Technology Sydney where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication in Media Arts and Production, majoring in film. From the age of fifteen she trained and performed in productions with the Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney, until she received a scholarship that enabled her to study abroad with the Atlantic Theater Company in New York in 2002.

Career

Actor

McClelland has had roles in the feature films A Man's Gotta Do, The Bet, Deck Dogz and in Australian television series Rake, Home and Away, Dance Academy and Canal Road.

She received an Australian Film Institute Award nomination for Best Guest or Supporting Actress in Television, for her 2005 role in the Network Ten telemovie Small Claims: White Wedding.

McClelland has performed leading roles in productions with the Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, and Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney.

McClelland is a former Jan Logan star, and face of the annual campaign, alongside other Jan Logan ambassadors Rose Byrne, Elizabeth Debicki, and Teresa Palmer.

Director / producer / writer

McClelland's short film Second Best won the Dendy Live Action Short Award at the Sydney Film Festival, the Australian Directors' Guild Award for Best Direction in a short film, Best Short Film at the Milano Film Festival, Best Foreign Film at Lake Shorts Film Festival, the Youth Award at 20MinMax Film Festival and Best Direction at Flickerfest [1].

McClelland directed, wrote and produced seasons 1 and 2 of the cult hit web series One Step Closer to Home, and the short film Nic and Shauna which was a finalist in Tropfest, the world's largest short film festival.

McClelland is also a respected international commercial director, having directed campaigns for Google Pixel, Apple, Air New Zealand, Samsung, Netflix and Vodafone, AEG, McDonald’s and Pot Noodle. Her advertising work has won awards such as the Black Pencil at the D&AD Awards and Best Direction at the London International Awards.

She was the recipient of the InStyle Magazine Woman of Style Scholarship for her work as a filmmaker in Australia.