After wowing the world with his award-winning plays ("The Pillowman", "The Lieutenant of Inismore", to name two), Martin McDonagh took to the silver screen in 2006, and, his first time out, won an Oscar for his short film "Six Shooter".

After the success of "Six Shooter", a black comedy featuring Brendan Gleeson, McDonagh entered into an agreement with Focus Features to direct a feature-length film from his screenplay "In Bruges".

The movie, about two Irish hitmen, played by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, who hide out in Bruges after a job gone wrong, earned McDonagh a nomination for Best Original Screenplay at this year’s Academy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award for Farrell.

The son of Irish parents from Counties Sligo and Galway, McDonagh was born in London on March 26, 1970.

He was discovered by Garry Hynes, the director of Galway’s Druid Theatre (Hynes made her New York directorial debut with McDonagh’s "Beauty Queen of Leenane", and won the Tony for Best Director of a Play).

McDonagh’s transition from acclaimed playwright to successful film writer/director has been seamless and his future big screen projects are widely anticipated.

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