Brian McGinn is a film and television director, writer and producer based in Los Angeles. Together with David Gelb, he developed the documentary series Chef's Table for television, which New York Magazine said 'changed the way documentary TV looks,' and is now the longest running program on Netflix. Since it launched on the streamer in 2015, McGinn has cast and executive produced each season and directed nine episodes. For his work on Chef's Table, he's earned three Primetime Emmy nominations and five James Beard Awards. In 2019, McGinn co-created the Netflix series Street Food, which, in its three seasons, has celebrated the casual food of Asia, Latin America and the United States. McGinn is also the writer, producer and director of the critically acclaimed documentary Amanda Knox, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2016 and was nominated for multiple Primetime Emmys, including Best Documentary and Best Writing for Non-Fiction. His other credits as a director include the HBO Comedy Special Ferrell Takes The Field, starring Will Ferrell, and episodes of the Netflix series Trial By Media and Dirty Money. As a founding partner in the production company Supper Club, McGinn's producing credits include the Disney+ original documentaries Wolfgang and Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u, the Pixar documentary A Spark Story, the Marvel Studios documentary Stan Lee, and the LucasFilm documentaries Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return and More Than Robots. Most recently, McGinn was a co-executive producer for an episode of the second season of FX's acclaimed series The Bear.
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Biography from IMDb.
- December 10, 1984 (41)
- Stanford, California, USA
- Producer, director and editor, also writer
- 26 on MovieCove · 34 credits in all
What are Brian McGinn's films like?
Across their 24 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Society.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 12
Light 9 · Serious 2 · Dark 2
Grounded 10 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 0
Gentle 9 · Charged 4 · Intense 0
Steady 12 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 10 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 1
Slow burn 10 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 0
Casual 10 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 11 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 0
Resolved 10 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Happy6
- Bittersweet7
- Ambiguous4
- Cyclical7
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Brian McGinn's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 25 of their 26 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Netflix (13).
- Chef's Table: France (2016) · producer
- Chef's Table (2015) · director, producer
- Dirty Money (2018) · director
- Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025) · producer
- Street Food: Asia (2019) · writer, producer
- Chef's Table: BBQ (2020) · director, producer
- Chef's Table: Noodles (2024) · director, producer
- Street Food: Latin America (2020) · writer, producer
- Chef's Table: Legends (2025) · director, producer
- Amanda Knox (2016) · director, writer, producer
- Chef's Table: Pizza (2022) · director, producer
- Trial by Media (2020) · director, producer
- +1 more
Subscription and free streaming for Brian McGinn's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
34 credits, 26 with a MovieCove page.
Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films
Chef's Table: Legends(2025)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
Chef's Table: Noodles(2024)
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all shows
Stan Lee(2023)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films
Chef's Table: Pizza(2022)
Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films
Street Food: USA(2022)
Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all shows
The Bear(2022)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all shows
Sketchbook(2022)
Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
More Than Robots(2022)
Midcredits score: 55th percentile of all films
A Spark Story(2021)
Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all films
Wolfgang(2021)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
Marvel's 616 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Chef's Table: BBQ(2020)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all shows
Trial by Media(2020)
Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all shows
Street Food: Asia(2019)
Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all shows
Machine(2019)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films
Dirty Money(2018)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all shows
Amanda Knox(2016)
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films
Chef's Table: France(2016)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all shows
Ferrell Takes the Field(2015)
Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films
Chef's Table(2015)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all shows
Alex of Venice(2014)
Midcredits score: 34th percentile of all films
You're So Hot: Part Deux with Dave Franco & Chris Mintz-Plasse (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
The Record Breaker (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Go F*ck Yourself with Dave Franco (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
You're So Hot with Chris Mintz-Plasse and Dave Franco (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
American Teacher(2011)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films
The Room Before and After - Part 1: James Franco (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
The Room Before and After - Part 2: Creed Bratton (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
The Room Before and After - Part 3: Maria Bamford (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Career shape
A full career of 29 titles from 2009 to 2026.
Biggest box office
American Teacher (2011)
Highest rated
Chef's Table: France (2016)
Most popular right now
Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return (2022)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
6 major nominations and no wins, 2016–2025.
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Brian McGinn's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 68th percentile, the median of all 13; across their 13 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 70th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up15
- 50th to 74th7
- 25th to 49th4
Shape of the crowd
15 of their 26 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved2
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser15
- Broadly Agreed2
- Mixed6
Reviewers score the atmosphere 62/100 and the pacing 50/100 in their films, across 10 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Brian McGinn work with?
People who share at least 2 of Brian McGinn's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; David Gelb shares the most, 18.
Directors
- David GelbShared titles: Chef's Table: Legends (2025), Chef's Table: Noodles (2024), Stan Lee (2023), Chef's Table: Pizza (2022), More Than Robots (2022), Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return (2022), Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u (a SOUR film) (2022), Sketchbook (2022), Street Food: USA (2022), A Spark Story (2021), Wolfgang (2021), Chef's Table: BBQ (2020) and 6 moreSee newest 12 of 18 shared titles with David Gelb
- Clay JeterShared titles: Chef's Table: Legends (2025), Chef's Table: Pizza (2022), Chef's Table: BBQ (2020), Chef's Table: France (2016), Chef's Table (2015)See all 5 shared titles with Clay Jeter
- Jason StermanShared titles: Homecoming: The Tokyo Series (2026), Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025), Stan Lee (2023), More Than Robots (2022), Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return (2022), Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u (a SOUR film) (2022), Sketchbook (2022), A Spark Story (2021), Wolfgang (2021), Trial by Media (2020), Machine (2019), Amanda Knox (2016)See all 12 shared titles with Jason Sterman
- Zia MandviwallaShared titles: Chef's Table: Pizza (2022), Chef's Table: BBQ (2020), Chef's Table (2015)See all 3 shared titles with Zia Mandviwalla
Actors
- Ed LevineShared titles: Chef's Table: Pizza (2022), Street Food: USA (2022)See all 2 shared titles with Ed Levine
Composers and editors
- Duncan ThumShared titles: Chef's Table: Legends (2025), Chef's Table: Noodles (2024), Chef's Table: Pizza (2022), Street Food: USA (2022), Chef's Table: BBQ (2020), Street Food: Latin America (2020), Trial by Media (2020), Street Food: Asia (2019), Chef's Table: France (2016)See all 9 shared titles with Duncan Thum
- Andrew McAllisterShared titles: Homecoming: The Tokyo Series (2026), Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025), Stan Lee (2023), More Than Robots (2022), Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return (2022), Sketchbook (2022), A Spark Story (2021)See all 7 shared titles with Andrew McAllister
- Scott Michael SmithShared titles: Homecoming: The Tokyo Series (2026), Stan Lee (2023), Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return (2022), Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u (a SOUR film) (2022), Sketchbook (2022), Trial by Media (2020)See all 6 shared titles with Scott Michael Smith
- Sebastian ÖrnemarkShared titles: Chef's Table: Noodles (2024), Chef's Table: Pizza (2022), Street Food: USA (2022), Chef's Table: BBQ (2020), Street Food: Latin America (2020), Street Food: Asia (2019)See all 6 shared titles with Sebastian Örnemark
Producers
- Jamie McBrietyShared titles: Homecoming: The Tokyo Series (2026), Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025), Stan Lee (2023), More Than Robots (2022), Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return (2022), Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u (a SOUR film) (2022), Sketchbook (2022), A Spark Story (2021), Wolfgang (2021), Trial by Media (2020)See all 10 shared titles with Jamie McBriety
- Dane LillegardShared titles: Chef's Table: Legends (2025), Chef's Table: Noodles (2024), Street Food: USA (2022), Chef's Table: BBQ (2020), Street Food: Latin America (2020), Street Food: Asia (2019), Chef's Table: France (2016), Chef's Table (2015)See all 8 shared titles with Dane Lillegard
- Drew PalombiShared titles: Chef's Table: Legends (2025), Chef's Table: Noodles (2024), Street Food: USA (2022), Wolfgang (2021), Street Food: Latin America (2020), Street Food: Asia (2019), Chef's Table: France (2016), Chef's Table (2015)See all 8 shared titles with Drew Palombi
- Michael HilliardShared titles: Chef's Table: Legends (2025), Chef's Table: Noodles (2024), Chef's Table: Pizza (2022), Chef's Table: BBQ (2020), Machine (2019), Chef's Table: France (2016), Chef's Table (2015)See all 7 shared titles with Michael Hilliard
