Iain is an internationally recognized and award winning artist and one of the motion picture industry’s leading conceptual designers. His exceptional command of human anatomy, character, emotional expression and visual narrative make him on of the most sought after artists working in the entertainment industry today.
He has worked for Lucasfilm as one of the principal
designers on Star Wars Episode One—The Phantom Menace, Star
Wars Episode Two—Attack of the Clones, and: Star Wars Episode
Three—Revenge of the Sith. His work
includes the landmark designs for Queen Amidala and Darth Maul.
His other film credits include: James Cameron's 'Terminator II', Steven Spielberg's 'Hook', Francis Ford Coppola's 'Dracula',
Neil Jordan’s 'Interview With the Vampire',
Sony/Revolution/Universal’s ‘Peter Pan’, and Warner
Brothers’'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'. He is also
Co-Producer and Concept Design Director on Ascendant Pictures’
science-fiction epic: ‘Outlander’.
As a screenwriter, Iain adapted the Ursula K. Le Guin classic: 'A
Wizard of Earthsea' for ShadowCatcher Entertainment, and was
co-author of ‘People’, an Emmy-nominated animation special for the
Disney Channel. In 2001, he wrote and designed his first CG
feature film,‘The Pied Piper’, for Imax/Mainframe. Iain made his
directorial debut with 'The Face', which made it's debut at
the Santa Barbara Film Festival. The film won several awards,
including the Gold Medal for Best Family Film at the Houston
International Film Festival, and a 'Year 2000 Notable Video'
award from the American Library Institute.
In 2005, Iain founded Ninth Ray Studios LLC, a freelance story and
design group dedicated to the art of storytelling. Since
it’s inception, Ninth Ray has handled development and
pre-production work for several major motion pictures, including
Ascendant Pictures’ ‘Outlander’ and both Paramount Pictures’ and
Disney/Pixar’s versions of ‘John Carter of Mars’. Iain is
also an internationally recognized illustrator specializing in
narrative and figurative art. His work includes advertising,
limited edition prints, children's books, computer and role
playing games, book and record covers (including the iconic
cover for Jethro Tull’s ‘Broadsword and the Beast’).
His original artwork has been exhibited in galleries worldwide,
including the Smithsonian. In 2000 and in 2008, Iain was
nominated for a Chesley Award by the World Science Fiction
Association. He has taught drawing and storytelling both
publicly and privately for over twenty years. He is the author of
four bestselling DVD’s on
Visual Storytelling and Concept Design for the Gnomon Workshop. He
continues to lecture and demonstrate and hold workshops for
film studios, conventions, institutions and schools around the
world. In 2008, Palace Press released ‘Shadowline: the Art
of Iain McCaig’. The book is a multi-faceted adventure,
featuring 28 years of Iain’s commercial and private artwork, a
fictionalized visit to his otherworldly studio, and an
intensive boot camp in how-to-draw.
