Background
Mclean was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of Anne (née Wason), and Alistair Mclean.
Mclean was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of Anne (née Wason), and Alistair Mclean.
He attended Saint Peter"s Primary in Partick and Saint Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in Jordanhill. In 2013 he graduated from the University of Glasgow with a Master of Arts (Scotland) in English Literature and Politics. Joseph studied screenwriting at the University of California and University of Strathclyde.
He has written, produced & directed commercials, documentaries, music videos and short films in the United Kingdom & United States of America. He has three older siblings Lynn, Alyson and James. Born on Saint Andrew"s Day, he is named after Scotland"s Patron Saint. He had a love of film from a young age and was an avid cinema goer, frequenting the local Grosvenor Cinema in Ashton Lane and the Salon Cinema in Hillhead.
Joseph made a number of short films during his time at university in California and Glasgow.
After leaving university, Mclean founded his own production company Partickular s which specialises in commercials, documentaries, films and music videos. In 2013, he released the short film Sectarian Secret Police about a Partick Thistle supporter who is kidnaped by a special police unit who demand he disowns his favourite football team in favour of Rangers or Celtic.
Thomas Simpson of Movie Scramble wrote "As a comical approach to a serious subject it does evoke the required laughs." The film screened at numerous film festivals throughout the United Kingdom, including Screentest: The National Student Festival in London and the Loch Ness film festival. In the same year he also directed the music video Nothing on Earth for the band Casual Sex, the music video was showcased by SXSW and featured in The Daily Record and The Skinny.
In 2014, Mclean was named alongside Gianni Capaldi and David O"Hara by The Sun (newspaper) as one of the "Scots to look out for in 2014".
Later that year he wrote a pilot for a television series called 2014 which revolved around the organisers for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He was commissioned to write a script for an animated film as part of Deep Roots, Kilmarnock"s major Homecoming Scotland event in 2014, charting the history of Dean Castle and the Boyd Family, who were lords of Kilmarnock for over 400 years. The 10-minute animation was screened onto the side of the castle to an audience of over 1400 local school children.
His short film Nomad about the Scottish Independence Referendum was inspired by a scene from The Parallax View starring Warren Beatty.
The film was screened at the Shorts on Tap Beyond Scotland event at 93 Feet East, Brick Lane, London.
He is a member of British Academy of Film and Television Arts Scotland.