Sean McNamara

For the fictional character on the television series Nip/Tuck, see Nip/Tuck.

Sean Patrick Michael McNamara^[1] (born May 9, 1962) is an American film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter. Originally a producer for the children's television series Kids Incorporated (1984–1994), he made his directorial debut with the independent film Hollywood Chaos (1989). McNamara later produced the Nickelodeon science fiction series The Secret World of Alex Mack (1994–1998).

Sean McNamara
McNamara in 2024
Born	Sean Patrick Michael McNamara (1962-05-09) May 9, 1962 (age 63) Burbank, California, U.S.
Occupations	Director producer actor screenwriter
Years active	1984–present
Known for	Soul Surfer The Miracle Season
Website	seanmcnamara.com

McNamara gained recognition for executive producing and directing episodes of the Disney Channel comedy series Even Stevens (2000–2003), as well as directing the television film The Even Stevens Movie (2003), which won him a BAFTA Award and earned him nominations for three Daytime Emmy Awards and three Directors Guild of America Awards. He later directed his first widely released film in Raise Your Voice (2004), and earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2005 for his work on the Disney Channel sitcom That's So Raven (2003–2006).

McNamara became more prolific as a film director starting in the late 2000s, directing Bratz (2007), Soul Surfer (2011), which is his highest-grossing release, Spare Parts (2015), The Miracle Season (2018), The King's Daughter (2022), and Reagan (2024).

Life and career

McNamara was born in Burbank, California. He is best known for his feature films Soul Surfer and The Miracle Season. In the pre-teen film market he worked with Jessica Alba, Hilary Duff, Shia LaBeouf, Christy Carlson Romano and Raven-Symoné. McNamara and David Brookwell are the founders of the Brookwell McNamara Entertainment production company. McNamara has continued to produce and create shows for MTV, The N, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network. He collaborated with Shin Sang-ok to make Galgameth and 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain, starring Hulk Hogan.

McNamara briefly appeared as the singing cowboy in the Even Stevens musical episode "Influenza: The Musical", and as an alleged alien abductee in the episode "Close Encounters of the Beans Kind". McNamara also had a cameo appearance on That's So Raven, appearing as a plumber in the episode "Out of Control".

In 2016, McNamara was hired to direct the biopic of President Ronald Reagan titled Reagan.^[2] The film was released in 2024.

Filmography

Films

• Hollywood Chaos (1989)
• Galgameth (1996)
• Casper: A Spirited Beginning (1997)
• Casper Meets Wendy (1998)
• 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (1998)
• P.U.N.K.S. (1999)
• Treehouse Hostage (1999)
• Race to Space (2001)
• The Even Stevens Movie (2003)
• Raise Your Voice (2004)
• The Cutting Edge: Going for the Gold (2006)
• Bratz (2007)
• Legally Blondes (producer) (2009)
• Into the Blue 2: The Reef (producer) (2009)
• Bring It On: Fight to the Finish (producer) (2009)
• The Suite Life Movie (2011)
• Soul Surfer (2011)
• Baby Geniuses and the Mystery of the Crown Jewels (2013)
• Robosapien: Rebooted (2013)
• Space Warriors (2013)
• Field of Lost Shoes (2014)
• Spare Parts (2015)
• Aliens Ate My Homework (2018)
• The Miracle Season (2018)
• Mighty Oak (2020)
• Aliens Stole My Body (2020)
• Cats & Dogs 3: Paws Unite! (2020)
• Sister Swap: A Hometown Holiday (2021)
• Sister Swap: Christmas in the City (2021)
• The King's Daughter (2022)
• Dangerous Game: The Legacy Murders (2022)
• Vindicta (2023)
• On a Wing and a Prayer (2023)
• Reagan (2024)^[2][3][4]
• Bau: Artist at War (2025)
• Soul on Fire (2025)^[5]

Television

• Kids Incorporated (producer) (1984)
• The Secret World of Alex Mack (producer, director) (1994)
• Even Stevens (executive producer, director) (2000–2003)
• That's So Raven (executive producer, director) (2003–2006)
• Just for Kicks (executive producer, director) (2006)
• Beyond the Break (executive producer, director) (2006–2009)
• Cake (executive producer, director) (2006)
• Dance Revolution (executive producer, director) (2006–2007)
• Out of Jimmy's Head (2007–2008) (executive producer - 19 episodes)
• Zeke and Luther (director) (2009)
• Shake It Up (director) (2011)
• Kickin' It (director) (2011–2012)
• Jessie (director) (2012)
• A.N.T. Farm (director) (2012)
• Gabby Duran & the Unsittables (director) (2019)

Personal life

McNamara is Catholic.^[6] He's the godfather of actress Christy Carlson Romano.^{[citation needed]}

Awards and nominations

Year	Work	Category	Result	Ref.
2001	Even Stevens	Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Series	Nominated
		Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Children's Programs	Nominated
2002		British Academy Children's Award for International	Won
		Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Series	Nominated
		Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Children's Programs	Nominated
2003		Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Series	Nominated
2004	The Even Stevens Movie	Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Children's Programs	Nominated
2005	That's So Raven	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program	Nominated	[7]
2007	The Cutting Edge: Going for the Gold	Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Children's Programs	Nominated
2022	The King's Daughter	Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture	Nominated	[8]