J.C. Monaghan

JC Monaghan is a film writer, producer and director from England. He was educated at Hazel Grove High School in Stockport, and later for a short time at The Manchester College. He has been passionate about film and cinema for the majority of his life, having developed firstly an interest in acting, then in technical theatre and then in film production. He has had several low-scale releases since 2007, his biggest short film Two Blue Lines is to be released in October 2010. He and Warren Croft are co-founders of Monaghan Media.
Personal Life
JC Monaghan, real name James Christopher Monaghan, was born on 6th February 1992 in Stockport, Greater Manchester, the town where he has lived since.
He took an active interest in politics and current affairs from an early age. He also took an interest in drama and acting, later at High School this developed into filmmaking.
At college he became friends with (later fellow dropout and subsequently radio presenter and producer for The BBC, Galaxy, and XFM) Darryl Morris. He also met Warren Croft at college who has since joined JC as a partner in Monaghan Media. He also became friends with Saf Akhtar, director of short film 'Honour', and his co-writer on many of his projects.
He took an interest in VFX and has self-taught himself some skills in Adobe's After Effects using the internet, often using Andrew Kramer's Videocopilot.net forums.
Recently he has taken an interest in HDR photography and is keen to experiment with it's application in filmmaking.
Education
It is fair to say that JC Monaghan and the traditional education system did not get on well: he fell well behind his classmates in the final years of High School, and although he still excelled in examinations, his coursework was not complete and there was growing pressure from his school to catch up and finish school. Finally in the last months of his compulsory education career, and with help from some notable teachers who gave time and energy to help him, he caught up and succeeded in his GCSEs. By the end of his time at HGHS his relationship with the majority of the senior staff at the school were frayed to say the least, one senior staff member told him as he left the school gates for the final time that he 'wouldn't do well' in the real world.
After starting a course in Film Production at The Manchester College the same problems emerged which he had in high school - he fell behind in the paperwork but his practical work was very good. It was only at college after 12 years in the education system that he was found to be dyslexic/dyspraxic.
In a twist of irony one of the reasons he was removed from his Film Production college course is because he'd been taking too much time off to actually make a film (Two Blue Lines).
One of his tutors at college was Lawrence Gough, director of Salvage and The Drought.
Career
He has had several short films, music videos, and similarly low-budget productions released in the past five years, and October 2010 will see the biggest release to date - Two Blue Lines.
Two Blue Lines was written, directed, edited, and largely shot by JC Monaghan, and was funded partly by the local youth service, and partly by the NHS. The producers intended Monaghan to make an educational film, but he is widely reported as distancing his film from being perceived as an educational film. He instead claims that the film is a solid drama, which could well be used in an educational environment just as much as it could be used in an entertainment environment. Distribution of the film will be handled by Monaghan's film company 'Monaghan Media', who also produced the short. It will be released to schools and youth services nationally with an accompanying educational pack, and online to the general public without. Development on Two Blue Lines started in January 2009, and the film will be released in October 2010, meaning the film has taken 21 months to be made. The film will likely stay in distribution for a further 5-10 years, and will survive online permanently.
In early 2010 Monaghan and close friend and radio presenter Darryl Morris interviewed The Stereophonics for XFM backstage before their performance at the MEN Arena.
Monaghan is actively developing an idea for an epic war film, no further information is in the public domain.

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