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Person

Adam McKay

Nationality:

American
Profession:

Comedian and Filmmaker
Associated Organization:

McKay Family Foundation

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Adam McKay is an American filmmaker, writer, producer, and comedian. McKay is a prominent political advocate known for supporting action on climate change, Marxism, abortion, and other left-of-center issues, which he often addresses in his films and his philanthropic efforts through the organization he co-founded, the McKay Family Foundation. 1  2  3  4

Background

Adam McKay is an American filmmaker, writer, producer, and comedian. Born in Denver, Colorado on April 17, 1968, McKay grew up in Malvern, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. His education included brief periods at Pennsylvania State University and then at Temple University, which he left a few months short of earning his degree in English. McKay is a prominent political advocate known for supporting action on climate change, Marxism, abortion, and other left-of-center issues, which he often addresses in his films and his philanthropic efforts through the organization he co-founded, the McKay Family Foundation. 1  2  3  4

Career

During his time in Philadelphia, McKay began performing stand-up comedy at local open-mic events. To further his comedy career, he moved to Chicago to study improvisational comedy, notably with Del Close. He performed at ImprovOlympic, where he was a founding member of the comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade. 2  5

In 1995, he was hired as a writer for the long-running NBC sketch comedy series, “Saturday Night Live” (“SNL”). He was promoted to head writer the following year at the age of 28, a position he held for two seasons until 1999. He also directed short films for the show, including the original SNL Digital Shorts. After leaving “SNL” in 2001, McKay formed a creative partnership with actor Will Ferrell, co-writing and directing a string of films including Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), and Step Brothers (2008). In 2006, the duo also founded the production company Gary Sanchez Productions.  6

A turning point in McKay’s career was his 2015 film, The Big Short, a film on the  2008 financial crisis. The film earned him an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He continued this shift toward mixing satire with serious, non-fiction topics with Vice (2018), a biographical film about former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, and Don’t Look Up (2021), a climate change satire. 7 McKay is also an executive producer on the television series “Succession,” directed the pilot episode “Celebration,” and directed for the series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.” 8

Political Advocacy

McKay has used his films as vehicles for his political and social commentary. His political positions include promoting gun control laws, abortion access, and government seizure of oil and gas companies. McKay has described himself as a democratic socialist and supported the campaigns of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). 9  10  11  12

McKay has sat on the board for the Climate Emergency Fund, and Just Stop Oil. He founded Yellow Dot Studios, a nonprofit video and media production organization opposed to the oil and gas industries. 13  14

He signed an open letter published by Greenpeace opposing a $300 million lawsuit brought by Energy Transfer. 15 He has also sat on the cultural council for RepresentUs. 16

In August 2025, McKay was among the 2,300 members of the Writers Guild of America who signed an open letter condemning what it called the second Trump administration’s “unprecedented, authoritarian assault” against free speech. 17

McKay Family Foundation

The McKay Family Foundation, based in Los Angeles, California, is a philanthropic organization that supports left-of-center causes. Key personnel involved with the foundation as of 2024 included Adam McKay and his spouse, Shira Piven, who at the time were the foundation’s secretary and president, respectively. The foundation primarily funds left-leaning advocacy groups focused on climate policy, environmental activism, Marxist publications, and related causes. In 2024 the McKay Family Foundation reported a $1,383,514 grant to the Climate Emergency Fund. This one grant represented 94 percent of all grants and contributions paid out by the McKay Family Foundation during the 2024 fiscal year. 18

Adam McKay has also worked as a board member of the Climate Emergency Fund, and personally donated $4 million to the group in 2022. 19  20  Other recipients of grants have included the Jacobin Foundation, which operates the openly Marxist Jacobin magazine. 21  22

References

  1. “Adam McKay,” Britannica, accessed December 14, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Adam-McKay. 
  2. Adam McKay, “How Adam McKay went from Temple dropout to Oscar nominee,” PhillyVoice, February 26, 2016, https://www.phillyvoice.com/adam-mckay-the-big-short-went-from-temple-dropout-to-oscar-nominee/. 
  3. Adam McKay, “Adam McKay: Global Warming Is Not Being Treated Like an Emergency,” Jacobin, March 17, 2023, https://jacobin.com/2023/03/adam-mckay-climate-change-emergency. 
  4. “McKay Family Foundation Inc – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, accessed December 14, 2025, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/472455809. 
  5. “Adam McKay,” The Second City, accessed December 14, 2025, https://www.secondcity.com/people/adam-mckay/. 
  6. “Adam McKay | Will Ferrell, Podcast, & Movies | Britannica,” accessed December 14, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Adam-McKay. 
  7. “Adam McKay Biography | Fandango,” accessed December 14, 2025, https://www.fandango.com/people/adam-mckay-440673/biography. 
  8. “Succession: HBO Orders Family Drama Series by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay,” Den of Geek, February 9, 2017, https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/succession-hbo-orders-family-drama-series-by-will-ferrell-and-adam-mckay/. 
  9. “Hollywood stars signs pledge to control on-screen gun violence,” New York Post, June 13, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/06/13/hollywood-stars-signs-pledge-to-control-on-screen-gun-violence/. 
  10. Marisa Dellatto, “Over 400 TV Writers And Showrunners Demand Abortion Protections From Major Studios, Report Says,” Forbes, July 28, 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/07/28/over-400-tv-writers-and-showrunners-demand-abortion-protections-from-major-studios-report-says/. 
  11. Adam McKay, “1.5C Is Terrifying, But There Is Something We Haven’t Tried,” The Lever, November 15, 2022, https://www.levernews.com/adam-mckay-1-5c-is-terrifying-but-there-is-something-we-havent-tried/. 
  12. “Artists and Cultural Leaders for Bernie Sanders,” Bernie Sanders, accessed January 4, 2016, archived by the Wayback Machine, https://web.archive.org/web/20160104201830/http://berniesanders.com/artists/. 
  13. Climate Emergency Fund, “Adam McKay Pledges $4 Million Donation to Climate Emergency Fund, Joins Board of Directors to Support Climate Activists,” Climate Emergency Fund, September 20, 2022, archived by the Wayback Machine on January 7, 2023, https://web.archive.org/web/20230107222308/https://www.climateemergencyfund.org/press/cef/2022-9-20-press-release. 
  14. J. Kim Murphy, “Yellow Dot Studios’ Staci Roberts-Steele Believes Comedy Can Save Our Planet,” Variety, May 17, 2023, https://variety.com/2023/digital/features/yellow-dot-studios-staci-roberts-steele-comedy-climate-change-1235618265/. 
  15. “Open Letter to Energy Transfer,” Greenpeace, accessed December 14, 2025, https://web.archive.org/web/20250901024332/https:/www.greenpeace.org/usa/energy-transfer-open-letter/. 
  16. “About RepresentUs,” RepresentUs, accessed December 2, 2025, https://represent.us/about/. 
  17. Adrian Horton, “Spike Lee, Adam McKay and over 2,000 writers decry Trump’s ‘un-American’ actions in open letter,” The Guardian, August 5, 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/aug/05/spike-lee-adam-mckay-wga-trump-letter. 
  18. “McKay Family Foundation Inc.,” Nonprofit Explorer, ProPublica, accessed December 28, 2025, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/472455809. 
  19. “Our Team,” Climate Emergency Fund, accessed December 28, 2025, https://www.climateemergencyfund.org/about. 
  20. Kathleen Ronayne, “‘Don’t Look Up’ director McKay gives to climate activists,” AP News, September 19, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-movies-adam-mckay-climate-and-environment-9f257b2d79e33d858777980b92b48906. 
  21. “About Us,” Jacobin, accessed December 28, 2025, https://jacobin.com/about. 
  22. The McKay Family Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2024. Part 14, A.
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